New Beginnings (The Billionaire’s Baby)

Helen Cooper

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is
entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents
either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2013 by Helen Cooper

This book is dedicated to the fans that wanted to see more of Maxwell and Sophie.

Prologue

Sophie saw the envelope and her heart stilled. Another letter had arrived to bring her out of her
detached numbness. The handwriting looked straight and neat. It was as if he had hoped that his
apparent calmness would soothe her broken heart and wounded soul. She picked up the letter
lifelessly. She didn’t want to read the words that would crush her all over again. She didn’t know if
she was strong enough to withstand the gamut of emotions that were sure to pass through her as she
read his letter. She preferred the silence of her numbness to the burning screeches of her pain. But she
couldn’t resist the magnetic pull of the letter. She ran to her bedroom and ripped open the envelope,
falling to her bed in sobs as she finished reading the poetic words of the man she loved.

My Dearest Sophie,

I hope this letter does not meet you with too much grief. By now you should have received one
other letter from me. I remember how you loved to receive letters as a child. I hope that you are
beginning to understand my actions. That’s all I dare ask of you now, Sophie. Remember me as the
man you loved and not the man I became.

Please kiss Winter and Jacob every night and give them an extra long hug from me. Tell them that
their father loves them dearly and I hope that one day they will see that I was trying to protect
them. Thank you for being the kind of mother that welcomes everyone into your heart. My love for
you has tripled in these last few weeks as I have witnessed the magnanimity of your devotion.

Sophie, you know that it pains me to say this but Nicholas is a good man. Know that you have my
blessing.

Always yours, in sickness and in health, in life and in death,

Maxwell

Chapter 1

Sophie

Sophie looked at the wedding magazines in front of her and sighed. There was so much that went into
planning a wedding. So much that she wasn’t really interested in, flowers, catering, decorations,
music, gifts, invitations; the list just seemed to go on and on. Maxwell had offered to get her a
wedding planner but she hadn’t wanted one. She had thought she could handle it all herself; she’d
thought it would be fun. But boy had she been wrong. She looked at her phone and picked it up,
checking her text messages again to see if Ella had returned any of her messages yet. But there were
no new messages. It seemed like another day was going to go by with no contact from Ella. She ran
through her contact list and tried calling her again. “Hey Ella, it’s me, Sophie. Just calling to make
sure you are okay. Call me when you can.” She tried to keep her voice happy but she found it hard to
keep the stress and desperation out of her voice. She was worried about Ella; she just hadn’t seemed
the same since she and Maxwell had picked her up from Joseph’s apartment.

The phone rang and Sophie grabbed it up eagerly. “Hello.” Her voice was excited.

“Hey, honey.” Maxwell’s smooth drawl came down the line.

“Oh it’s you.”

“Well nice to see you missed me.” Maxwell’s voice held mirth.

“Sorry. I was just hoping Ella would call.”

“Oh no, she’s still giving us the silent treatment?” Maxwell sighed. “Should I go and see her?”

“No. No.” Sophie knew that would only aggravate matters. “She’ll come around eventually.”

“I wish I would never have hired Joseph. It’s my fault.”

“No, Max.” Sophie’s voice was soft. “It’s not your fault.”

“For once.” He laughed. “In all seriousness, let’s talk about this tonight and see what we can come up
with.”

“Okay.” Sophie smiled into the phone. “I love you, you know.”

“You do?”

“I do, Mr. Van Harkel.” She grinned.

“As much as the sky?”

“Only if you include all the clouds.”

“I think I can do that.”

“What about you?” Her voice was low, almost embarrassed.

“What about me?” He paused. “I love me too.” He laughed.

“You know what I mean.” She giggled nervously. Their relationship was so new and their love too
recent for her to believe that it was true.

“Oh, I love you more than the galaxy. More than ten trips to the moon.”

“Okay, as long as you love me more than nine trips.” She laughed happy and then gasped. “Ooh.”

“What happened, Sophie?” Max’s voice was worried. “Are you okay?”

“The baby just kicked me.” Her voice was full of wonder. “I think she’s happy to hear we love each
other.”

“You mean he?” His voice was dry. “I told you I wanted a Maxwell, Jr.”

“I think it will be a Maxina then.” She laughed.

“We’ll see.” She heard him talking to someone in his office and she sat back on the couch and picked
up one of the wedding magazines she was looking at. “Hey sorry about that.” Max came back to the
phone. “What were we talking about?”

“How would you feel about a wedding on the beach?” She stared at the photos in the magazine and
thought she could go for a wedding in Hawaii. “Somewhere like Hawaii?”

“If that’s what you want, my love.” His voice was sweet and pleasant and Sophie could hardly
believe that this was the same Maxwell that had been so hot and cold with her in the past. “Can you
have it arranged by next week?”

“No.” She laughed and then sighed. “You know I have to plan the wedding around my school
schedule. I really want to finish before the baby comes.”

“I know. But maybe we can just go to Vegas and elope and have Elvis marry us?”

“Are you serious?” Sophie’s voice was excited.

“I wasn’t but it seems like you are really interested in the idea.” Max’s voice was incredulous. “Go
figure. You have millions of dollars at your disposal to plan the wedding of your dreams and you
want to go to Vegas for a quickie wedding.” He laughed. “Well, I know I’m not marrying a gold-
digger.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Sophie mocked an offended voice.

“No, my dear. Anyway I have to go. I’ll see you for dinner. Oh and by the way, I think we’re going to
have a girl as well. I love you.” And with that, he hung up. Sophie smiled at the phone, still unable to
believe that all of her dreams were coming true. Soon she would be Mrs. Maxwell Van Harkel. She
flipped back to the wedding magazine and sighed. She just wasn’t interested in reading about
weddings right now. She got up and walked to the window and looked out at the park. She wouldn’t
admit it to Maxwell but she was beginning to love his apartment and its view of Central Park. She
loved being able to leave the apartment and do just about anything her heart desired. She could go to
the movie theater, Trader Joe’s or the park in under five minutes; and she could catch the subway and
be on campus at Columbia in less than ten minutes. Some days she even walked up to 116 Street. She
never told Maxwell that though, she knew that he would be upset to hear that she was walking that far
by herself. He was very overprotective; something that she loved, when she didn’t feel like she was
being cloistered.

As Sophie watched the Upper West Side mothers walking their dogs along with their babies she

realized that she wanted a dog. She’d have to ask Max if they could get one. She went and sat back on
the couch and turned on the TV. She flickered through the channels and sighed. There was nothing
good to watch and she was bored. She wanted to do something but she had no one to hang out with.
Ella was her only real friend and she had cut her off. Sophie checked the wall clock and grabbed her
bag before running out of the apartment. She was going to go over to the apartment she had shared
with Ella until very recently and wait for her until she got home. She was fed up of Ella treating her
like this. She needed Ella and Ella needed her; they had been friends for too long to let an affair with
a married man come between them. Sophie bit her lip as she hailed a cab. She hoped that the only
problem Ella had concerned Joseph because if she was upset that Sophie was dating her brother, then
that would make things a lot more complicated.

She rode in the back of the cab in silence running her fingers through her long brown hair, which she
was sure looked a frizzy mess. Ella would tell her to deep condition it. Or maybe she would have
deep conditioned it for Sophie herself. They had played hairdresser for years, with Ella taking over
the role as Sophie’s stylist in boarding school. Sophie had only been seven but she had always gone
to class with the cutest shiny lips thanks to a dab of Ella’s lip-gloss. Sophie missed those days.
Sometimes she lay in bed and just thought about all the tricks she and Ella had gotten in to. They’d
been as thick as thieves and Ella had dragged Sophie into one stupid stunt after another. There was
nothing Sophie would say no to. She’d clung to Ella like a child clung to its favorite teddy bear. Ella
taking her in had made her feel whole. It was Ella who would come and hug her close when she
would wake up in tears remembering her parents. She sometimes wondered what would have
happened if her parents hadn’t died in that car crash. Would she ever have met Ella or Maxwell? She
doubted it. And sometimes she didn’t know if she would have changed the past if she could. Would
she have reversed her parents dying in the car crash if it meant she would never meet Maxwell? She
tried to banish those thoughts from her mind. It wasn’t healthy for her or the baby. And it wasn’t like
she would suddenly develop a gift to go back in time.

***

Sophie let herself into the apartment and looked around. It was dark, desolate and messy. She walked
through the pile of clothes carefully, picking them up as she walked further into the apartment. She
knocked on Ella’s bedroom door before she entered. “Ella. Ella, are you there?”

Silence greeted her as she pushed the door open. She wasn’t going to snoop. She just wanted to put
the clothes on her bed. She stood there looking around the normally immaculate room and gasped.
There was a broken mirror on one side and piles of empty take-out bags and empty tubs of ice cream.
She screamed as something scurried across the room; she was pretty sure it was a cockroach. She
bent down to start picking up the trash but then hesitated and stopped. If she cleaned up the room then
Ella would know she had been in there, she may even think she was snooping. And Sophie didn’t
want to know what Ella would do then. She decided to go to the living room and wait on the couch
but as she passed the door she saw something in the trash that made her stop. It was a pregnancy test
and as Sophie looked at it, she felt the color drain from her face. She was pretty sure she knew what
those lines meant as she had just been witness to them herself very recently. She dropped the test back
into the trash and walked back to the couch slowly unsure if she should say anything. It wasn’t like

she was in any position to say anything. She wasn’t exactly the moral police.

She turned on the TV and occupied her mind with an old episode of ‘King of Queens’. She laughed as
Doug and Carrie argued over how to get rid of an ugly piece of art and without realizing it, she fell
asleep on the couch. She awoke a couple of hours later and Ella still hadn’t returned. She looked at
her watch and sighed. She had to leave, Maxwell would be waiting for her, wondering where she
was. Everything between them was still so new that she didn’t want to rock the boat and have him
worried about her whereabouts. She turned off the TV and tried calling Ella again. She was worried
about her friend. She knew that emotionally Ella was pretty fragile. She’d gone through a stage when
they were freshmen where she slept with a lot of different guys. It was as if she thought sex would
make them love her. For a confident beautiful girl, Ella had a lot of issues and Sophie was really
worried about her. She only hoped that Ella wasn’t going to turn to sex with random strangers to help
her get over Joseph. She tried calling Ella once more as she walked out of their apartment but once
again there was no answer.

Chapter 2

Ella

Ella looked at her ringing phone and sighed as she saw Sophie’s name pop up again. She knew she
should just answer but she was so angry and frustrated. And if she admitted it to herself, she was
jealous. It just wasn’t fair that Maxwell and Sophie had paired up. Now she had no one. She’d lost
her brother and her best friend and was all alone. Even Joseph was ignoring her. Now that she’d
gotten him fired, he wanted nothing to do with her. She knew she should be happy that he had ended it
once and for all. She didn’t want to be the other woman; but he had said that he was going to leave
Lily. She’d counted on him leaving Lily. Why would he stay if he was so unhappy? It just didn’t make
sense to her. She was young, rich and beautiful and Lily was a slob. Why would he stay with her?

She knew she was acting like a bitch. But she couldn’t help it. She just felt so sorry for herself. She

didn’t understand why he didn’t love her like she loved him. How could he have made love to her so
tenderly if he didn’t love her? She picked up her phone and tried Joseph’s number again. It rang twice
and then went to voicemail. He had sent her to voicemail on purpose, she was positive of it. “Thanks
for being an ass, Joseph. You better call me back. I think I’m pregnant.” She hung up quickly and sat
back in the park bench. She looked at the kids on the swings and sighed. If that voicemail didn’t get
him to call her then nothing would. It wasn’t a complete lie. She had thought she was pregnant when
she took the test last week but then she had gotten her period and gone to the doctor and taken another
test. And he had told her that she was definitely not pregnant. And then he’d given her a handful of
condoms. She’d wanted to giggle as he handed them to her but she didn’t think he would appreciate
the humor in the situation. She’d been buying boxes of condoms since she was in high school, she
didn’t need a lecture on how important they were.

“Hi.” A young African American lady came and sat next to her on the bench. “Which one’s yours?”

“Huh?” Ella looked at her with a frown. She didn’t want to be social with anyone.

“Which kid is yours?” The blond smiled and pointed. “That little tyke in the red sweater and red
pants is mine.”

“He sure likes red,” Ella drawled staring at the pudgy little kid running around with a stone in his
hand.

“That he does.” The lady laughed. “My name is Capri.” She held out her hand as she introduced
herself.

“Capri?”

“Like the drink.” The lady laughed again. Ella studied her face as she talked; she was pretty when she
smiled. She must have been about twenty-six. She must have had the kid around Ella’s age. She
looked at Capri’s hand and there was no ring on it. She must have been a single mother. She looked
pretty happy for a single mother. Ella was surprised and tried not to stare at Capri’s clothes. They
looked like she had bought them at Target. Not the sort of clothes Ella would be caught dead wearing.
And then Ella laughed at the absurdity of her thoughts.

“What’s so funny?” Capri smiled at her waiting for her to share the joke.

“Oh nothing.” Ella smiled back at her, a genuine and wide smile. “You just remind me of my best
friend, Sophie. And by the way, I’m Ella.” She paused. “And no kid.”

“Ah, just spending your time here thinking?” Capri smiled kindly.

“Something like that.” She nodded and tried not to sigh. “I just got out of a bad relationship and I’m
trying to not let it rule my life or thoughts.”

“Ah, I’ve been there.” Capri laughed. “Boy, have I been there.” She stood up then. “Leroy, drop that
stone right now or we are going home.” Leroy looked at his mother like he wanted to cry but then
dropped it and ran to one of the slides. “Oh children.”

“Hard work, huh?” Ella sympathized with Capri. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be a
single mom.

“Yeah.” Capri laughed. “But thank God my husband is hands on. It takes a lot of pressure off me.”

“Oh, you’re married?” Ella looked at Capri’s left hand disappointed. For some reason she thought she
and Capri could have become single girls on the prowl now that Sophie had gone out and hooked up
with Max.

“I know, no ring.” Capri grinned. “We couldn’t afford to buy one yet.” She shrugged. “I’m just happy
he was willing to take me and Leroy on.”

“Oh, he’s not Leroy’s dad?”

“Not his biological dad, no.” Capri grinned. “But he is a better father than his real dad. Leroy, come
here now,” Capri shouted at the little boy who came running over to them, with his hands all full of
dirt. Ella stared at him in interest. He was a gorgeous kid up close. And his clothes looked nice. A lot
nicer than Capri’s. Ella smiled at the boy who looked at her unabashedly. He then reached his muddy
hand over to hers and squeezed.

“Oh I’m sorry, Ella.” Capri sighed and gave her a tissue. “I bet Leroy is in love with you. He’s never
seen such a beautiful girl before. Have you?”

Leroy continued staring at Ella with a small smile and she grinned at him. “That’s no problem. I guess
I should get used to it. I’m going to be an aunt soon.” She looked down into her lap as excitement
poured through her. She was looking forward to being an aunt. She realized that now. She sighed with
annoyance at herself. She’d been such a brat—she was sure Sophie was worried sick about her. She
resolved to herself that she would call Sophie as soon as she got home.

“Oh that’s great.” Capri smiled at her. “Hey, here’s my card. You should call me sometime if you
ever want to hang out.”

Ella took the card and smiled. “Thanks.”

“And just in case you’re ever interested, I met my husband on reallove.com.” Capri paused. “It’s an
online dating site but I think it’s better than the others. I met some nice guys there.”

“Oh ok.” Ella blushed embarrassed. Did she really look like a loser?

“Online dating is not just for the socially inept anymore.” Capri smiled and Ella wondered if she was
a mind reader. “Trust me, the best way to get over an old boyfriend is to find another.”

“Yeah. That might be true.” Ella smiled back and stood up. “I should be leaving too. Nice to meet
you, Capri. Bye Leroy.” She gave the little boy a small hug and waved goodbye as they walked away.
“Is that the lady from the photo, Mommy?” he whispered in her ear and Capri pressed her fingers
over his mouth to make sure Ella didn’t hear him. “Yes.” She smiled and took out her phone to send a
text message. Contact made. And info on website given. I’ll wait for her to make contact. She hit
send and put her phone away. “Come on Leroy, let me take you to our regular spot now.”

Ella looked up at the sky and smiled. She saw some birds flying and she decided to run. She didn’t
care that she had on a skirt and flip-flops; she just wanted to feel free. To feel like she was flying as
well. The wind stung her face and the pebbles almost twisted her ankles as she ran but she didn’t
stop. She couldn’t stop. This was the first time she had felt truly alive in weeks. She wanted to call
Capri and thank her. She wanted to tell her that she was ready to move on from Joseph; that she no
longer was satisfied being the girlfriend of a married man. She deserved better and she had Capri and
Leroy to thank for that. Sometimes new life and energy came from those we didn’t even know. She
tried to ignore the niggling thought in her mind that told her that tomorrow was another day and Joseph
would be back on her mind again.

As Ella ran through the park, she realized that she was dreadfully close to Max’s apartment. She
found herself running towards it without thinking. She didn’t think about it, she just kept going. She
wanted to see Sophie. She felt an overwhelming desire to hug her and apologize. Poor Sophie. She
knew that Sophie’s life had been just as uncertain as hers had been up until a few weeks ago. It really
hadn’t been fair of Ella to cut her out. Ella stopped at the corner and bent down to adjust her skirt. As
she looked up she saw Maxwell walking down the street, she was about to call out to him, when she
saw Alexis next to him, chatting animatedly. Ella paused and stared as they got into a taxi together.
She saw Maxwell looking around him as he got into the cab and then they sped away. She didn’t
know what to think. What was he doing with Alexis? Was her brother a cheater as well? She didn’t
want to believe it. What was she going to tell Sophie? For while she was jealous that her best friend
had found happiness, she didn’t want that happiness to come crashing down. Not now, not after
everything that had happened.

Chapter 3

Max

Alexis rested her hand on Max’s leg and he sighed. She wasn’t going to make this easy on him. He
looked at his watch. It was getting late and Sophie was going to wonder where he was. He’d have to
be quick.

“So where are we going, Alexis?” He looked at her distractedly. She was still as beautiful as ever,
with her sharp blond bob and dark brown eyes. She batted her eyelashes up at him.

“I thought we could get a drink.” She curled into him and he slid away from her. “Don’t you think you
owe me that?”

“Alexis. I don’t have time for these games.” He sighed. “What’s up?”

“I was hoping you.” She purred and him and he flinched. He knew that voice, she wanted to have sex.
“I’m not wearing any underwear,” she whispered into his ear and snuggled up to him closer. “I could
get on your lap if you want.”

“Alexis.” He pleaded with her to stop. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings but there was no bigger
turn-off than a woman begging you to sleep with her when you just weren’t interested.

“I can remember a time when you wanted me anywhere you could have me.” She pouted at him and
ran a finger down the front of his pants. He felt his cock twitch at her touch and pushed her hand
away. She grinned at him, “It seems like little Max wants to say hello. I bet he’s missed me.”

“Driver, pull over, please.” Max was angry and he jumped out as the cab stopped. “I don’t have time
for this Alexis.” She jumped out after him and glared at him before patting down her perfectly coiffed
hair.

“I didn’t want to do this the hard way Max but you are really leaving me no choice.” She straightened
her back. “Pay the cab and let’s go into Starbucks.” She walked to the sidewalk and waited as he
handed the driver a $20.

Maxwell was annoyed. He didn’t want Alexis in his life anymore but he really didn’t know what to
do. He had made a huge mistake proposing to her. He’d tried so hard to forget Sophie. His precious
beautiful Sophie, the love of his life and heart. It was seeing her face in the morning that gave him the
will to live and to believe in happy endings. He wasn’t going to lose her. He wasn’t going to let
Alexis ruin this for him.

“How much do you want?” He opened his wallet and pulled out a thick wad of hundred dollar bills.
Alexis looked at him with slanted eyes and a bitter smile.

“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” She walked into the Starbucks and sat down. “I’ll have
a coffee, you know how I like it.”

He sighed and ordered two black coffees. This was the last place he wanted to be. He wondered
what Sophie was doing right now. Was she thinking about him? Wondering where he was. She most
probably thought he was still at work. If she knew that he was here with Alexis, he wasn’t sure what

she would do or say. He may even lose her. Everything they had was still new and precarious. He
couldn’t risk losing her, not when he had finally gotten her. He hadn’t gone through so much pain and
strife in the last few years to have Alexis ruin his life.

“Here.” He handed Alexis her coffee and sat down. “What do you want?” He was abrupt and firm.
He didn’t want Alexis to think that she had any chance of getting back with him. He couldn’t believe
that he had dated this woman and proposed to her. He cringed when he thought about making love to
her. He’d been drugged up then. It wasn’t something he was proud of but he’d had to do a mixture of
drugs and alcohol to get through that part of his life. Being young and rich wasn’t always a good thing.

“To go back to the good old days, Sir.” She stared at him intently and he cringed. She was addressing
him as her Dom and he was worried about what she really wanted.

“What do you want, Alexis?”

“Does she satisfy you, Max?” Alexis leaned into him. “Is she as adventurous in bed as I am? Does she
even know just how kinky you are?”

“It’s none of your business, Alexis.” His voice remained calm but he felt a surge of panic run through
him. There were many things that he hadn’t told Sophie.

“Does she know about the sex clubs?” She licked her lips. “Does she know that you like to swap? Or
have you guys already done that?” She paused as she watched his hands still on his coffee. “Maybe it
turns her on to watch you fucking another girl? If you want she can watch us. Or maybe you want
Frank to have his turn with her as well.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Alexis,” he growled.

“Have you spoken to Frank lately?” She looked at him intently.

“No.”

“I miss those days.” Her eyes became glazed. “The X Club was the place we were both really alive,
Max. You know that’s true. We belong there. You, me, Frank, Gina. Those were the days.”

“I don’t miss them.” He looked at her distastefully.

“What would Sophie say if she knew?” Alexis laughed. “Would she like you to watch her suck off
another man?”

Max sat his coffee down on the table and leaned towards Alexis. He grabbed her hand and held it
tightly. “Listen here, Alexis. I am going to say this once and once only. If you ever go near Sophie
again or I find out you have sent anything to her or told her anything, I will personally make sure that
that is the last thing you will ever do in this world. And if I hear that Mitch has been around her, well,
you don’t want to know what will happen to him.”

“She’s not worth it, Max.” Alexis sighed and looked at him pityingly. “You’re not a vanilla, two
point four children kinda guy. You’ll get bored and then you’ll be trapped.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Maxwell got up to leave.

“No.” Alexis held up her hand. “I want to know when you’re going to tell her about our child.”

Max sank to the chair, all color drained from his face. “What are you talking about?” He stared into
her eyes to see if this was some sort of trick. If she was lying to get him to react. “Alexis?”

She bit her lip and looked away from him. “I didn’t want to tell you this way Max.”

“Tell me what?” He felt his heart sinking and he swallowed hard.

“We have a son.”

“When?” He paused and leaned towards her. “And if you are lying I swear to God that you don’t want
to know what I will do to you.”

“He’s four months old.” She closed her eyes. “I gave him up for adoption.”

“You what?” Max felt a headache start to come on and he rubbed his temples.

“I didn’t want to be a single mother and I knew you didn’t want a kid,” she paused, “then. So I left
and I stayed in Winterside and had the baby and gave it away.”

“Who has the baby?”

“An older couple.” She bit her lip. “But they realize they are too old for a baby and want to give him
back.”

“What?” Max’s voice rose. “Please tell me this is another one of your dirty tricks, Alexis.”

She turned and looked him in the eye. She brushed her hair back with her long fake nails and her
words came out coldly. “You screwed me over for that whore, Max. We were supposed to get
married. Well guess what? Your precious Sophie is getting a delivery right about now. You see I told
that old couple that baby Jacob’s dad, yes they named him Jacob, was going to take care of him from
here on out. And so they are taking him and his stuff to your apartment now.”

Max watched the words tripping out of her mouth with delightful spite and he wanted to slap her. But
he knew that was what she wanted. She was a sadomasochist and enjoyed being hurt. In fact, she
couldn’t get off without being spanked most of the time. He had wondered at the time what had made
her as fucked up in the head as him but he hadn’t cared enough to ask. She’d been a body, willing and
able and that was all that had mattered.

“When are they taking him?” He frowned and pulled out his phone to see if Sophie had called him as
yet.

Alexis looked at her watch and smiled. “Five minutes ago.”

“You’re a bitch.” His words were cold and filled with distaste.

“You never complained about that before.” She grabbed his hand. “We can still make this work,
Maxwell. Please. I need you.” She stared into his eyes beseechingly.

“Are you sure he’s my son?”

“If he’s not yours, he’s Franks.” She stared into his eyes. “So let’s just say he’s yours, unless you
want to have a conversation with him?”

Max looked at her with hatred and then he felt sorry for her. She was a mess. And there was nothing

he could do to help her. “I’m sorry, Alexis. I have to go now.”

“I want to see Jacob.” Her words stopped him cold, as he was about to walk away.

“What do you mean?” he hissed.

“I’m still his mom. I want to be able to see him every now and again.” She looked at him with tears in
her eyes. “We made him together, Max. You may not love me, but he is a part of both of us.”

Max closed his eyes and counted to five before answering her. “Alexis, there has never been and will
never be an us. If Jacob is mine, you will have nothing to do with him.” He slammed his hand down
on the table and stood up. “I’ll call you in a few days. Do not contact me before then.” And with that,
he hurried out of the store and tried calling Sophie again, with his stomach in knots. He felt panicked
and tense; everything was falling apart already. Her phone rang and rang and she didn’t answer and
Max contemplated hitting a bar before going home. But he knew that wasn’t the answer. He needed all
of his wits about him when he got home. He had to let Sophie know that he didn’t know about this
child and that he loved her. He needed her to know that she was his everything. He loved her more
than life itself and he couldn’t survive if he lost her. He couldn’t tell her that Jacob may not be his
though; he didn’t want her to know about the sex clubs. Or his past life. And more importantly, he
didn’t want to become involved with Frank Phillips again.

Chapter 4

Sophie

All the lights were off when Sophie got home. She was surprised that Max wasn’t home as yet but she
guessed that work had gone later than he thought. She kicked off her shoes and went and settled on the
couch. She stared out of the window at the gray sky and felt that it reflected the gloom in her heart.
She just wasn’t happy. She missed Ella and she felt alone. Maxwell was her true love, that she knew,
but she still couldn’t stop thinking about him and Alexis. The other woman had struck a chord in
Sophie and she couldn’t stop thinking about the two of them together. It gnawed on her late at night as
she slept in his arms and listened to him sleep. Had Alexis done the same thing as well? Had Alexis
loved him so much that it hurt when he wasn’t around?

She was interrupted from her silent reverie by a knocking at the door. She jumped up eagerly. “I’m
coming, Max.” She ran to the door assuming that he must have left his keys at home or in the office.
“You’re home late,” she cried out as she opened the door but it wasn’t Max who was sitting there
waiting for her. “Oh hello?” She smiled at the older couple standing in front of her; the man was
holding a baby boy and they studied her face intently.

“Hello.” The lady smiled at her, she appeared to be in her fifties. She looked frazzled with unkempt
grey hair and huge bags under her eyes. “Is Maxwell Van Harkel home?”

“No, he’s not home yet.” Sophie paused and smiled again. “Can I help you? I’m his fiancée, Sophie.”

“Oh, so you’ll be the mother then?” The man smiled at her and his eyes crinkled as he took in her
gentle persona.

“Well, yes.” She waved them in. “I’m going to be a mother. Did Maxwell tell you?”

“No, we’ve not met Maxwell yet.” The lady followed her into the apartment. “Alexis told us to
come.”

“Alexis?” Sophie frowned. What was going on here?

“Jacob’s birth mother.”

“Jacob?” Sophie looked at the couple in confusion.

“This little one.” The lady nodded down at the baby in her arms and sighed. “Thank you for agreeing
to take him. We thought we would be able to take care of a baby, but it’s just too much. We’re too old
and well, Larry had a stroke last year and I don’t want him stressing out.”

“Why do you have Alexis’s baby?” The words sounded robotic coming from Sophie’s mouth.

“I’m her old nanny you see, I agreed to help her. We didn’t formally adopt him, so there won’t be any
problems. You won’t have to do any paperwork seeing as Maxwell is the father.”

Sophie felt the air rush out of her body and she leaned against the wall in shock. She felt lightheaded
and closed her eyes. Maxwell was a father? “Sorry, are you saying that Maxwell and Alexis had a
baby and this is him?” Sophie’s voice was stilted and the couple looked at her in dismay.

“We thought you knew, dear. Alexis said—” The lady started but her husband cut her off.

“I knew that girl was trouble. Show her the baby.”

The lady handed the baby over to Sophie and she stared down at him reluctantly. There was no
doubting that he was Maxwell’s baby—what with his striking jet-black hair and vivid blue eyes. He
gurgled up at her as she held him awkwardly in her arms. She adjusted him so that she could study his
features better. He stared back at her with a small smile and his little face captivated her.

“He’s adorable, isn’t he?” The lady beamed at her. “We have his things here. It’s not much but he
does love his elephant teddy-bear.”

“Oh.” Sophie looked at her in dismay. “You’re leaving him?”

“Well, Alexis said that his father would look after him now.” She spoke reluctantly.

“And Maxwell is the father?” Sophie’s voice is tense.

“Yes.” The lady exchanged a look with her husband and he frowned. “I’m sorry, dear but we have to
go.”

“Can’t you wait, please? I’m really confused here.” Sophie stared at them in deep confusion and
upset.

“We have to get back to Penn Station or we’ll miss our train. Alexis said it would be okay. She said
Max knew and it was all going to be okay.”

Sophie decided that this wasn’t the time to let them know about her last encounter with Alexis. She
didn’t want them to know just how complicated the situation was. They obviously loved Jacob. She
wanted them to feel comforted in their decision; she could see how overwrought they were. “Well,
don’t you worry. Max should be home soon and we’ll take care of it.” Sophie smiled at them
reassuringly. She blinked quickly to stop the tears from falling out of her eyes. She thought about how
ironic life was; there she was just minutes ago, feeling sorry for herself because she was lonely and
now here she was with a new addition pretty much dumped in her lap. She walked the couple to the
door and kept a warm smile on her face but inside she felt like her world was never going to be right
again.

They say that God never gives you more than you can handle but Sophie was starting to think that that
wasn’t true. She was close to breaking down uncontrollably into sobs but she was scared that she
would upset the baby. She held the baby as she would a wounded baby fox, carefully and at a
distance. She tried not to look at him too closely; he was the symbol of Max and Alexis’s
relationship. A relationship she was trying hard to forget; however, it seemed like she couldn’t get
away from it. She sat on the couch and stared at the wall vacantly when she heard someone knocking
on the door. She stood up and walked there mechanically, in complete contrast to her joyful leaps
earlier. “Hello?” She opened the door with a blank look on her face and saw Ella standing there with
a concerned and nervous look on her face.

“Ella,” her voice cracked with excitement and the stress of the last hour.

“Oh Sophie. What’s wrong?” Ella took in her friend’s appearance and noticed her bleak eyes,
unkempt hair and worry lines. She looked like she had aged a few years in a few weeks. She

wondered if Sophie knew about Alexis; she could kill her brother for taking Sophie down this road
and then she saw the baby. “You had the baby already?” He voice dripped with shock and her eyes
bulged out.

Sophie looked at her and then back down at the baby and started laughing. “Oh Ella, no. No, I didn’t
have the baby already.” She couldn’t stop laughing and tears fell out of her eyes. “I just barely got
pregnant.” She continued laughing and ushered Ella into the apartment. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She giggled.

“No problem.” Ella grinned. “I guess I didn’t think about that rationally.”

“It’s okay.” Sophie sighed and smiled at her friend. “It’s just really good to see you El!”

“I’ve been an idiot. Sorry, Sophie.” Ella hugged her friend and stepped back quickly so that she
wouldn’t smother the baby. “But who is this baby, Soph?”

Sophie sighed and looked at Ella in extreme sadness. “He’s Max’s son, Ella. He had a baby with
Alexis.”

“Oh my God.” Ella looked at her in shock and ran her hands through her new pixie cut. “I can’t
believe it. Oh my God.” She looked down at the baby that was sleeping in Sophie’s arms and lightly
stroked the warm fuzz on his head. “I guess that is why I just saw Alexis and Max leaving?”

“What?” Sophie looked up at her sharply.

“Oh shit.” Ella sighed. “I guess not then.”

“I haven’t seen Max since this morning.” Sophie’s voice held a tinge of anger. “And you just saw him
leaving with Alexis?”

“Maybe an hour and a half ago.” Ella confessed. “I went to Crumbs and got us some cupcakes instead
of coming right up, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”

“Oh Ella.” Sophie looked at her friend reproachfully.

“I know, I know. I was likely going to tell you. I promise.” Ella crossed her fingers behind her back.
“So how did you get the baby?”

“I’d rather find out why Max is with Alexis.” Sophie’s voice was angry as she handed the baby to
Ella. “His name is Jacob.” She sighed as Ella cooed at the baby. And then she paused, was this a
good time for her to ask Ella about the pregnancy test that she had seen? She bit her lip and walked to
her phone. She knew she was being selfish but she couldn’t deal with one more thing that evening, not
one more thing. She picked up her phone and saw several missed calls and a voicemail from Max and
just stared at the phone. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. As long as she didn’t speak to Max
and she didn’t listen to the voicemails she could pretend that everything was a mistake. That Jacob
wasn’t really his kid. That Ella really hadn’t seen him with Alexis. What if he wanted to tell her he
was going to leave her for Alexis. That he needed to be with her and the baby. What if he tried to take
her baby away from her? She wouldn’t know what to do with her life. She couldn’t survive. She
looked across the room at Ella playing with the baby and she frowned. It looked as if Ella had
already fallen in love with her nephew. Jacob was her blood, no matter who his mother was. Sophie
knew that at the end of the day blood came before water.

She placed the phone back in her bag and walked back to Ella. “I’m just going to go out for a bit. Will
you be okay with the baby?” She saw Ella look at her in concern but she didn’t want to talk anymore
at that moment. “I’ll be back.” She hurried to the door and left the apartment. She wasn’t sure where
she was going but she just knew that she had to get out of there; she needed some fresh air and to
think. She needed to decide whether or not she wanted to marry Maxwell anymore.

Chapter 5

Ella

Jacob cooed up at Ella and she felt her heart melting. She knew that she shouldn’t be so happy to see
him but something about Jacob set a fire in her belly. She knew that she loved this little baby already.
There was something so precious and innocent about him. This was a baby that would one day grow
up to be one of very few men she trusted and believed in. The only other two men that she believed in
right now were her father and Max and even then she didn’t know how much she would trust Max if
he weren’t her brother. Something about holding the baby reminded her of all the times she had
thought about getting pregnant to keep one of her boyfriends when she first started dating. She didn’t
understand why she felt so starved for love but holding Jacob made her feel whole and warm inside.

She sat down on the couch with Jacob in her arms and turned on the TV. She was worried about
Sophie. She had looked so distraught and upset, she could only imagine the sort of pain she must be
going through. It didn’t seem quite fair; they’d only just seemed to have gotten it together but already
Sophie and Max were going through another crisis. Ella sighed. She really didn’t know if they were
going to make it. Max had really screwed up this time. It took a pretty amazing woman to take care of
someone else’s child. For a second Ella wondered if she should ask to take Jacob off their hands—
but she knew that she couldn’t manage to take care of him by herself. She knew less than nothing about
babies. And she knew that she was too young to take on that responsibility. She was twenty-two; she
had the world to conquer first. She jumped as she heard someone banging on the door.

“Sophie, Sophie, let me in.” Max’s voice rang out as he continued thumping the door.

“Gosh dangit, Max.” Ella jumped up and walked as quickly as she could to the door without waking
Jacob. “Shut up, Max.” She glared at her brother as she opened the door. He looked a wreck and she
felt her heart go out for him. It seemed like neither of them could get it together in love.

“Where’s Sophie?”

“She left.” Ella’s voice was cold. She was still mad at Max for having never told her that he loved
Sophie.

“Oh my God.” He fell back against the wall, his voice anguished and his face contorted in pain.

“Don’t you want to see your son, Max?” Ella held Jacob to him and he stared in her eyes and laughed
bitterly.

“Way to turn the knife, Ella.” He stared down at the baby in her arms but felt nothing but numbness.
“He looks like a Van Harkel.” He laughed uncontrollably and Ella looked at him in concern. “Or a
Phillips.”

“Oh Max.” She touched his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

He looked at her bleakly and smiled. “No sis, I’m sorry. How are you?”

Ella hung her head and stared at Jacob. “I’m getting better thanks.”

“I could kill Joseph,” Max muttered.

“It wasn’t all his fault.” She sighed. “I was a fool.”

“He took advantage of you, he was older and knew better.” Max grimaced. “I should have noticed.”
He sighed.

“It’s not your fault, Max.” She looked at her brother lovingly. “You know that right. You can only
protect me so much.”

“I’ll protect you your whole life, Ella.” He smiled down at her lovingly. “You will always be my
younger sister.”

Ella rolled her eyes. “And you’ll keep scaring the guys away.” She laughed.

“That’s the idea.” He paused. “I guess I should look at my son.” He took Jacob from her arms and
held him gingerly. “So Sophie left as soon as you arrived?”

“I don’t think she’s gone forever, Max.” She studied her brother’s face and spoke carefully. “It’s a lot
to take on, Max. She’s had a rough few months. You’ve really put her through the wringer.” She
paused. “And she didn’t have a brother to beat you up for playing with her emotions either.”

“Because I was the one who was meant to play that role.” He sighed.

“Well you can’t be her brother and boyfriend.” Ella grinned at him. “That’d be gross.”

He laughed at her and shook his head. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” He walked over
to the couch and sat down carefully, making sure that he held the back of Jacob’s head for support.

“So you really didn’t know Alexis was pregnant?” Ella questioned him curiously.

He sighed and looked at her with pained eyes. “I had no clue, Ella. But I wasn’t really with it when
we were together. I wasn’t with it for a lot of things.”

“Oh.” She knew he was talking about the drugs. She had heard her parents whispering about it,
anxious and worried.

“Those were dark days, Ella.” He paused. “I’m a different man now.”

“I know.” She smiled weakly, hoping that it was true. “Why did you turn to drugs, Max?”

He looked up at her and she saw the lost look in his eyes, turning them from a sky blue, to a
thunderous purple. “It was a mix of things. I was lost. I was rich. I was in love with someone who I
felt I was forbidden from loving. I wanted to get lost in another life, another place. Alexis provided
me with an escape and we dragged each other down a deep, dark and dirty hole.”

“Why Alexis?”

“She was beautiful, she was there, and she was willing.” He sighed. “And she let me do whatever I
wanted to do.”

Ella stared at him with wide eyes. She wanted to know exactly what he was talking about but felt
weird asking her brother about his intimate life. “So did you love her?” she asked him anxiously, she
knew that would be the one thing Sophie would never be able to get over.

“No.” He laughed bitterly. “There’s never been anyone for me but Sophie.”

“Good.” She stood up. “Let me try calling her to see if she will come home.”

“Please.” Max’s eyes lit up.

Ella sighed as the phone went straight to voicemail. “No answer.”

“That should make me feel better, that she isn’t answering your calls but it doesn’t.” He shook his
head. “God, I hope she is okay.”

“Look at that, a billionaire asking God for something.” Ella laughed.

Max rolled his eyes at his sister. “Help me put Jacob down, please.”

“Okay.” She took the baby from her brother’s arms. “Go and find me as many blankets as possible
and bring them in here. You’re going to have to buy a crib tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He looked at her with wide eyes. “Sophie already had one picked out I think, I guess we can
just get two instead.”

“Yeah.” Ella’s voice was soft. She felt sorry for her brother but he was the one who had gotten
himself into this situation. Why didn’t men think sometimes?

***

Ella left thirty minutes later and Sophie still hadn’t arrived back at the apartment. She wasn’t worried
as she could only imagine what Sophie was going through. She must be devastated. Ella knew that she
wouldn’t have handled it half as well as her friend and she promised herself that she would stop
being selfish and would be there for her friend. Heaven knew that Sophie was going to need her more
than anything right now.

She walked into her apartment and sighed at the musty smell resonating from the kitchen. She hadn’t
tidied up in ages and it smelled like she must have left something old out, which was now rotting. She
looked at the fruit flies flying around and bit her lip. She knew that she needed to clean up but she was
just so tired and stressed. She had tried to be upbeat and happy so that Max wouldn’t feel bad but she
was still pretty devastated and heartbroken. No matter how she tried to tell herself that Joseph was
bad news, she just couldn’t stop thinking of the way his eyes lit up every time they were together. The
way he had made love to her slowly and gently and the way he told her he loved her, and that he
wanted to be with her, that she was the one for him. How they’d laughed watching ‘The Simpsons’ on
TV and taken turns trying to imitate Bart’s voice. She’d believed him when he said he was leaving his
wife and wanted to marry her. She’d believed him when he’d pledged his undying love for her. But it
had all been a lie. What a fool she had been. She looked in the kitchen one last time and walked
slowly to her room. She’d deal with the kitchen in the morning.

She walked straight to her laptop and turned it on. She paused for a moment before typing in
reallove.com quickly. The bright cheerful website beckoned her to create a profile and meet her soul
mate. Photos of happy and gorgeous couples told her of their perfect relationships and urged her to
also sign up to meet the love of her life. She laughed at the irony of the fact that here she was Ella Van
Harkel, beautiful and rich socialite about to join an online dating site. People assumed she could have

every guy she wanted and that her life was perfect but that was far from the truth. She figured she had
nothing to lose by signing up, even if she only met losers. That wouldn’t be different from any other
guy she had met in real life.

“Hmm, a name, a name,” she mused to herself. “What should I call myself?” She didn’t want to put a
name that would let people know it was her but she didn’t want to be off the track either. “Princess-
to-be?” she thought out loud. No, no, that sounded like a little kid. “Columbiagrad?” she thought. No,
that wasn’t even true. She hadn’t even graduated as of yet. She sighed; this was going to be a long
arduous process if she couldn’t even think of a name. She wished Sophie were here, so that they
could sit back laughing and drinking wine as they filled out the questions. She sat back and
remembered that Capri had given her her card, before she could stop herself; she pulled her phone out
and called her.

“Hello?” Capri’s voice was friendly and welcoming.

“Hi Capri? This is Ella, we met earlier today at the park.” Ella’s voice was hesitant.

“Oh of course. How are you, Ella?” Capri sounded genuinely happy to hear from Ella and she smiled.

“I’m good. Well I’m just okay.” She laughed self-consciously. “I’m actually signing up for
reallove.com and was wondering if you could help me?”

“Oh that’s awesome.” Capri laughed. “Sure, I can help. What did you need help with?”

“Everything.” Ella laughed. “I’ve never done this before and I have no clue what to do and how
honest to be.”

“Oh I felt that way when I first started as well.” She laughed. “Can I call you back in ten minutes? I
can put Leroy to bed and then we can go through the process.”

“That sounds great.” Ella laughed happily. “I would really really appreciate that.”

“No problems. I’ll call you back on this number?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Ella hung up and sat back suddenly feeling light. She was happy that she had made
what she felt was going to be a good friend in Capri. And Capri had no idea that Ella was rich. And
she still liked her. It felt good to know that she could make friends that were real and sincere and
liked her for who she was. She supposed that was why she and Sophie were such good friends.
They’d been friends for so long that Ella knew that Sophie was not interested in her money or status.
Not like the girls in high school. Who’d only cared about comparing holiday homes, designer
handbags and trust funds. Aside from Sophie, Ella didn’t really have any other good friends. Ella
sighed because she knew the same was true for Sophie. Ella had monopolized her time and friendship
and Sophie was nothing if she wasn’t loyal. She had no one either. She was most probably off
somewhere by herself crying and devastated with no one to talk to. She pulled her phone out to call
her friend again but it went straight to voicemail. She closed her eyes and prayed that her friend was
okay. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Sophie.

On the other side of town, Capri was sending a text message to her contact. “Ella called and she’s
joining the dating site. I’ll send you her screen name as soon as I get it. Please make the deposit
into the Chase account. Thx.” Capri stared at the phone in her hand and felt a moment of guilt but

then she saw Leroy’s bed in the corner of her room and she knew she didn’t have the money to feel
guilty. She had a job to do.

Chapter 6

Sophie

It was nighttime but all the lights made it seem like it was early afternoon to Sophie. She had a love-
hate relationship with New York City. There were times when she felt like she couldn’t believe how
lucky she was to live in this wonderful happening city. But there were also times that she just wanted
to leave. Times when the lights annoyed and the constant crowds of people made her feel invisible.
What a feeling—to be surrounded by so many people but to feel completely and utterly alone. She
watched some German tourists cross the street excitedly pointing at a yellow cab. She laughed to
herself; she had been excited to see the cabs when she first came to the city as well. It seemed to be
such a long time ago now. She decided to go and sit in the park to think. It’s the place that she and
Ella had always gone when they wanted to distress.

She walked and sat on an empty bench that was overlooking some friends throwing a Frisbee. They
looked like they didn’t have a care in the world. She stared at them and realized she envied them.
She’d always had a heavy heart, her parents’ death, stress that her aunt and uncle couldn’t afford to
take care of her, worry that her grades wouldn’t be good enough to get into Columbia with Ella who
was a legacy, anxiety over loving Maxwell secretly and now confusion over the fact that he had a
child with Alexis. She thought she was too young for all this turmoil in her life and laughed out loud.

“A penny?” A man’s voice interrupted her hysterical laughter and she looked over at him. A
handsome young man who looked like he was in his late twenties had joined her on the bench. He
smiled at her warmly, “Or a dime if the joke is super funny.”

“Just a dime for a funny joke?” She smiled at him. “My jokes are worth at least a dollar.”

“I think I can find that.” He pulled out his wallet and looked for a dollar. “But it had better be a good
joke.”

“I don’t think it’s worth a dollar.” She shook her head and sighed. “In fact, I don’t even think it’s
worth a penny.”

“Want to talk?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.” He laughed
to himself then and she shook her head.

“No. Not really.” She pointed at the group of guys throwing the Frisbee. “They look like they’re
having fun. I was just watching them.”

“You wanna play?”

“Oh you know them?” She looked at him in surprise; he was wearing a dark suit and didn’t seem to fit
the jeans and T-shirt look of the slightly younger looking guys.

“No, but I’m sure I can convince them to play if you want to.” He grinned at her.

“Oh, I don’t know.” She looked at the laughing guys wistfully. “I should really be going.”

“Frisbee’s fun.” He jumped up. “Let’s go play.”

Sophie studied the handsome man before her. His dark blond hair was cut short and he had deep
brown chocolate eyes. He looked a bit like Leonardo Di Caprio, she thought. If she’d been single she
would have been attracted to him.

“Come on.” He held his hand out to hers. “It won’t kill you to have some fun. I think we both need it.”
He smiled at her warmly. “If I tell you I had a bad day as well, will it make you say yes?”

She looked at his outstretched hand and infectious smile and jumped up. “You know what. You’re
right. I need to have some fun right now. Let’s go play.”

“Hey guys, can my friend and I join?” The man took off his jacket and threw it into to the grass as he
and Sophie joined in the game. She laughed as the guys all made sure to throw the Frisbee to her
softly

“You guys can throw it harder and longer.” She grinned at them. “I promise you I can get it.”

“Yeah?” The guy closest to her grinned. “Okay, we will have to step up our game, you heard the
young lady.”

Sophie was heaving breathlessly after running to get the Frisbee and the handsome man came up to
her and laughed. “I’m glad I turned your frown upside down.”

“Thank you.” She beamed at him. “I needed this right now.”

“I’m glad I was able to help.” He rubbed her back. “I’m Nicholas by the way.”

“Sophie.” She smiled at him.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” He smiled into her eyes and Sophie blushed.

“Oh, I’m engaged,” she blurted out red.

“Is that your name Sophie Engaged?” He grinned at her, trying to hide his disappointment.

“Ha, no.” She smiled at him. “I just wanted to put it out there, just in case you know.”

“That doesn’t stop us from being friends, I hope?”

“No.” She smiled at him warmly. “I’ve been looking for some new friends recently.”

“Well, then it was fate that we met.” He studied her face and took in the lines of obvious stress and
paused. “I’ve been told I make a pretty good friend and listener.”

“Then I’m glad we met, Nicholas.”

“You can call me Nick.”

“Then I’m glad we met, Nick.”

“Or St. Nick.”

“Then I’m glad we met Santa Claus.” She burst out laughing and he brushed a piece of a dead leaf off
of her cheek. And she stood there staring into his brown eyes with her cheek tingling.

“So am I, Sophie.” He looked around. “I think our new friends are about done for the night. Would
you like to go and get a coffee?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t.” She looked at her phone to figure out the time but she realized that her phone was
dead.

“Do you need to get home to your fiancé?”

Sophie thought about Jacob and Maxwell and sighed. “No, I don’t need to rush home. Let’s go and get
hot chocolates.”

“That sounds even better.” He smiled. “Let’s toast to new friendships.”

“Yes, we’ll toast to new beginnings.” She smiled half-heartedly. She knew that her life was now on a
different path, no matter what happened next; nothing would ever be the same again.

“I like that. Here’s to new beginnings.” He picked up his jacket and they waved to their Frisbee
friends and left the park chatting aimlessly, both of them happy to have found a kindred lost soul.
Neither one of them realizing that they had just started the path to a tumultuous and rocky journey.

***

“So you love sitcoms, board games and long walks on the beach?” Nick laughed. “Is that about
right?”

“Yes.” Sophie laughed. “I didn’t realize that I was so transparent.”

“Well you know.” He grinned.

“Okay, let me try you.” She paused and stared at him. “You like surfing, Broadway shows and
camping?”

“I can kill a bear with my bare hands.’

“Now that’s impressive.” Sophie smiled and sipped the last of her hot chocolate. “It’s getting late.”
She sighed. “I should get going.” She sat back and gathered her things together.

“It’s been nice having hot chocolate with you, Sophie.” He smiled at her, his warm brown eyes filling
her with an inner calm. “You have made me forget all my problems for the evening.”

“I hope you don’t have too many.” She looked at him in concern, feeling guilty about not staying but
wanting to go home to Max.

“Nothing I can’t deal with.” He sighed. “Though sometimes I just want to leave the city and run away
and marry a nice girl and live in the country.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” She smiled at him sweetly. “I’m sure you can make that happen.” She
rubbed his hand warmly.

“Thanks, Sophie Engaged.” He sighed. “It was great meeting you, albeit, a few years or months too
late. Have a great evening.”

“You too, Nick.” She stood up and smiled down at him. “Thanks for a great evening.”

“If you ever want to talk, you should call me.” He pulled out his card and Sophie shook her head.

“No, thank you but no.” She smiled at him sweetly. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Well, maybe one day we’ll meet in the park again.”

“That would be nice.”

“It’ll be serendipity.” He laughed at himself and shook his head at her look of curiosity.

“Goodbye, Nick.” Sophie walked out the restaurant slowly with a pit of worry in her stomach. It was
time for her to go home and deal with Max and Jacob.

Nick watched her as she left and sighed to himself. Sophie was a beautiful woman; the type of woman
he would love to be with. She wasn’t like the normal women he met in the city. She wouldn’t have
done to him what the last girl had; the one that had him in this mess. He sighed and put his head on the
table. He would have to go home soon and do what Frank had asked of him.

Chapter 7

Maxwell

Max was out of his mind with worry. He had no idea where Sophie was and she wasn’t answering
her phone. Part of him thought that she’d left him for good; maybe she’d gone back to Florida to stay
with her aunt and uncle. Maybe she never wanted to talk to him again. He didn’t know if he could
bear to lose her. He looked at Jacob sleeping and made sure that he was safe on the blankets he and
Ella had set up on the floor and then walked to his bedroom. He opened the safe quickly and took out
a box and unlocked it with a key on his keychain. The video and the photos were still there and so
was the gun. He looked at the photos distastefully and grimaced. If these were to ever get out, they
would ruin a lot of lives, including his. The only thing was, his life may be ruined already. He closed
his eyes and tried to remember how he felt the night before with Sophie in his arms. He’d felt like all
his dreams had come true. He couldn’t let her get away without a fight.

He heard the front door bang and he jumped. He quickly locked the box and put it back in the safe and
closed the door before running out of the room. His heart leaped to his throat as he saw Sophie
standing there looking at him with heartbreak in her eyes. He walked up to her slowly saying nothing
and reached out his arms to her. She ran into them with a cry and he held her close. He could feel her
heart beating rapidly as he held her and he wondered if he would ever forget this moment. This
wondrous moment when their hearts beat as one and she held him tight without even asking a
question.

And then Jacob cried and she pulled back from him with pain in her eyes and looked around for him.

“Oh Max.” She half giggled as she saw the baby lying on the floor and walked over to him slowly
before picking him up. “You can’t just leave the baby lying on the floor.”

“He’s on blankets.” His voice had the slightest tinge of reproach.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

She laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know. But it just doesn’t seem right.” She held a crying Jacob in her
arms and rocked him back and forth. “I think he needs changing.”

“Okay.”

“Maxwell you need to change him.”

“Oh?” He screwed his nose up. “Do I have to?”

“We’ll do it together.” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Thanks, Soph.”

“Yeah.” She carried the baby to the couch. “Will you get the diapers?”

“Uhm, where are they?”

“Look in the big yellow bag.” She tried to keep her voice calm but she felt like she was going to have
a giggling fit.

“Where’s that?” He shrugged his shoulder.

“The big yellow bag to the right of you, Max.”

“Oh sorry.” He bent down and opened the bag and saw a bunch of items he didn’t recognize and
picked the bag up and brought it over to her. “Uh here.”

“Pass me a diaper, please.”

“I’m not sure what it is.” He paused. “Sorry.” He watched Sophie standing there with his son and his
heart expanded more than he knew was possible for both of them.

“Oh Max.” She giggled. “Hold Jake.”

“Jake?”

“I figured a Jacob would be called Jake, right?” She smiled shyly. “He looks like a Jake to me.”

“I love you, Sophie.” He stared at her, his blue eyes pleading with her for forgiveness. “I love you
more than life itself.”

“I love you too, Max.” She sighed. “We’ll talk later.” She pulled a diaper and wet wipe from the bag
and changed Jacob.

They put a now content Jacob back on his blankets and sat on the couch. Sophie made sure to distance
herself from Max on the couch and he frowned.

“So I want to know what’s going on, Max.” She looked at him seriously. “How long have you known
about Jacob?”

Max sighed and took a seep breath. He knew that it was too good to be true when she had come in and
not bombarded him with questions right away. “Only since today, Sophie. I swear.”

“You didn’t know Alexis was pregnant?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“No.” His voice was direct and angry and he held her hand. “I had no idea, Sophie.”

“And he’s definitely your son?” She cocked her head and studied his face.

He swallowed and thought as she looked at him. He wasn’t sure what to say. There was a possibility
that Jacob wasn’t his but that would mean delving into a part of his past that he wasn’t sure she could
accept. A past that he was ashamed of and could ruin lives. “I think so.” He made sure to keep his
voice even and steady. He didn’t want to lie to Sophie but he wasn’t sure how his sweet, innocent
Sophie would handle the truth.

She pulled her hand away from him and frowned at him. “Don’t lie to me, Max, is there a possibility
that Jacob is not your son?”

He looked at her stony face with wide eyes and stared at the sleeping baby. “He looks just like me.”

“That’s not answering my question, Max.” Her voice was agitated. “He has the same color hair and
eyes, yes, but that doesn’t make him your son definitively.”

He sighed and bit his lip. He could feel her withdrawing from him and he spoke again. “There is a
possibility that he isn’t my son.”

“And you know who the other potential father is?” She looked at him curiously.

“Maybe.” He spoke slowly, pleading her with his eyes to stop the line of questioning.

“Maybe?” She leaned towards him. “Alexis cheated on you and you knew about it?”

“She didn’t cheat.” He looked away and sighed. “I knew about it.”

“What?” Her voice rose and she looked at him in shock. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to talk about it any further, Sophie.”

“Your fiancée slept with other men and you knew about it and it was okay with you?”

“She is my ex-fiancée.” His voice was harsh. “I didn’t love her and we had an unconventional
relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sophie—it’s the past.”

“I want to know.”

“Sophie, there is nothing good that can come from you knowing.”

“I love you, Max. I want to know more about your past.”

“My love for you is all that matters.”

“No, it’s not.” Her voice was resolute.

He sighed and grabbed her hand. “Please, Sophie. I don’t want to go back to that place.”

“I think you owe it to me, Max. A baby was delivered here today. A baby you had with Alexis. I need
to know, Max,” she pleaded with him.

“We were members of a sex club, Sophie. She fucked other men. I fucked other women. Sometimes
we had threesomes, sometimes I didn’t know if I was fucking her or another woman.” His voice was
harsh and he looked at her with pained eyes. “Does that make you feel better? Are you satisfied now
that you know?”

“No.” Her voice was small and tears sprang to her eyes. Max studied her face and felt a dull rumbling
in his ears. He was mad at himself, he had been harsher that he had intended and now she was upset.
He didn’t know why she wouldn’t just leave it alone.

“I’m sorry, Sophie.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Miss what?”

“The clubs?”

“No.” His voice was loud. “No. I frequented them at a bad time in my life, Sophie.”

“I want to see what it was like.” Her voice was a whisper.

“No.”

“I want to see, Max.”

“It’s not a good idea, Sophie. You don’t belong in that world.”

“It was a part of your life, Max. I want to understand.” She studied his face and played with her long
brown hair. “I want to know everything about your life. I want to understand every part of you.”

“I don’t want you to leave me.”

“I’ll never leave you, Max.”

“I couldn’t survive without you, Sophie. I wouldn’t have anything to live for without you in my life.”

“I will always be here, Max. I promise.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you more than
the stars in the sky and the grass on the ground. I just want to understand you better.”

“Okay.” He stared into her eyes. “We can go tomorrow night if Ella will babysit for us.”

“Okay.” She smiled at him weakly.

“And about Jacob, we can give him up for adoption if you want.” His words trailed off and she
placed a finger to his lips.

“I would never make you do that, Max.” Her voice was low. “It’s not the baby’s fault.

“Thank you.” He held her close to him and a solitary tear fell from his face and onto the top of her
head as he held her close. “Thank you, my love.”

***

Max left the office on his lunch break agitated and upset. He walked quickly to the office on the
corner by the park. He greeted the receptionist and walked up the stairs briskly.

“Thanks for fitting me in, Dr. Spencer.” He walked into the office and he greeted his psychiatrist with
a grim look. “I know I haven’t seen you in a few weeks but a lot has happened recently. I had to see
you. I hope that I didn’t put you out?” He looked at the man with a concerned look.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Max?” Dr. Spencer looked at Max pacing around and gestured to the
couch. “What’s happened?”

“My ex, the crazy one I told you about. She had a baby.” Max was shouting. “And she dropped the
bomb on me at the same time the baby was delivered to my home and my fiancée.”

“The love of your life fiancée?” Dr. Spencer asked calmly.

“Yes.” Max’s face softened for a second. “She wants me to take her to the club.”

“Did you tell her that that wouldn’t be possible?”

“I tried.” Max sighed. “She feels the need to see it.”

“Did you tell her that you don’t want to relive the memories that time in your life.”

“No.” Max’s voice was anguished. “I don’t want her to know how bad it was. How bad I was.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t want her to leave me.”

“Do you think she would leave you if she knew?”

“Yes.” Max’s voice was anguished. “It’s too dark, she is too sweet and innocent. I don’t think she
would understand.”

“But that is your past, Max.” Dr. Spencer tapped his fingers against the pad and stared at his patient
thoughtfully. Max had been his patient for the past three years. He had been surprised that Max had
chosen him, being that he was younger and fresh out of grad school but he started to realize that Max
had seen him as someone who might understand him a bit better. He knew that he had helped Max but
he felt guilty that he was now compromising his trust. “If she loves you, she will understand that this
is a part of your past. We all have a past.”

“Will she understand that I once beat someone so hard that he nearly became unconscious and that I
was so coked up that I didn’t even care.”

“You’re clean now, Max.”

“Sometimes I still get urges, Dr. Spencer.” Max’s voice was pained and he looked into his face.

“To do coke?”

“To lose myself.” Max stared out of the window. “To be someone else.”

“That’s a normal feeling, Max. We all want to have a different life sometimes.”

“I don’t feel that way when I’m with her.”

“Your ex?”

“No. With S., the love of my life.” Max sighed. He thought of Sophie and he smiled. She had brought
him breakfast in bed that morning and he’d left as she was washing Jacob carefully. He wasn’t a good
enough person to have the heart of someone so wonderful.

“Does S think you are a saint?”

“No.” Max laughed.

“And S didn’t leave you after she found out about the baby.”

“No.” Max paused. “In fact, she’s been wonderful.”

“You said there’s a possibility you may not be the father?” Dr. Spencer cocked his head.

“Yeah, there is another man, a very powerful man who may be the dad.”

“Are you going to say anything to anyone?” The doctor frowned at him. “That may not be a good
idea.”

“I don’t know.” Max frowned. “We’d need a DNA test first.”

“Do you think S will leave you when she finds out about everything you did in the sex clubs?”

“I don’t know.” He grit his teeth. “We’re going to one tonight—she wants to see it.”

“The X Club?” Doctor Spencer raised his eyebrows.

“No.” Max paused. “I would never take her there. I’m taking her to the starter club. The one I started
them all out in.”

“That shouldn’t be so bad then.”

“What if I fall into my old ways again?”

“Do you think you will?”

“No.” Max paused and smiled. “I have no interest in doing any of those things with her.”

“So then it shouldn’t be a problem?”

“You’re right. It shouldn’t be a problem.” He finally sat down. “I’ll take her there, show her around
and then we’ll go home and that will be it.”

“Are you still worried that you’ll go back to the drugs?”

“No.” Max’s voice was firm. “I don’t need them anymore.”

“If you ever feel like you need them again, you have to go to rehab.” Dr. Spencer’s voice was serious.
“You do understand that right.”

“Yes.” Max looked at his doctor seriously. “I know that.” He laughed. “You do know, Dr. Spencer,
you are the only person who can get away with talking to me like that.”

“It does feel weird to boss a billionaire around.” The man laughed and Max smiled at him.

“We should hang out some time.” Max stood up and looked at the man from the door.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Max.” He smiled. “I think I can connect better with you as just
your doctor as opposed to your doctor and your friend.”

“That may be true.” Max laughed. “Thanks, man. I appreciate your time.”

“No worries, Max. Please feel free to call me at anytime.” He smiled and stood up to shake Max’s
hand. “I’ll save an appointment for you on Monday, if you need to talk about tonight.”

“Okay.” Max grimaced and walked out of the door.

Dr. Spencer took out his tape recorder and pressed record: “Maxwell Van Harkel emergency visit
notes. He is going back to locations that may lead to regressive behavior. Look for signs of drug or
alcohol abuse in next couple of sessions. Also look for bruises or cuts on his body.” He pressed stop

and sighed and turned off the recorder. He hadn’t wanted Max to see it in his face but he was worried
that Max was in for a relapse and that worried him. He then pulled out his phone and stared at it for a
second before sending the message. Max will be going to ‘The Games’ tonight. No other new info.
He didn’t name the man he thinks is the baby’s father . Dr. Spencer stared at the wall after he sent
the message, he felt guilty and sad but there was nothing he could do. It was either him or Max that
was going to go down and he couldn’t allow it to be him.

***

As Max walked back to the office he decided to call Sophie to make sure that she was still okay. He
also wanted to hear her voice so he could calm his nerves.

“Hey Max,” she answered the phone breathlessly.

“What are you up to?”

“Just been pacing back and forth with Jacob,” she whispered. “He’s been crying for the last forty-five
minutes.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Should we get a nanny?”

“No.” Her voice was sharp and then she softened it. “I don’t want a nanny but maybe we can go to
some classes together, so we can learn how to look after a baby.”

“I think we can arrange that.” He smiled into the phone. “I love you.”

“What should I wear tonight?” Her voice was low and anxious. “I want to fit in.”

“We’re just going to check it out, Sophie, not partake in anything.”

“I know.” Her voice sounded peeved.

“You weren’t expecting to do anything, were you?” His voice was sharp.

“No.” Her voice was low.

“Do you want to sleep with another man?” He stopped and closed his eyes as he waited for her
answer.

“What?” Sophie’s voice was shocked. “No, no. Of course not.”

“Okay.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Then what were you expecting?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know what else goes on there.”

“But you want to try something?”

“Maybe.” She paused. “Something small. Just to experience it.”

Maxwell felt his heart beating fast and a grin spread across his face. “Well, maybe we can arrange
something.”

“What?” Her voice was breathless again.

“It’ll be a surprise.” He grinned as they hung up the phone. It seemed like his sweet innocent Sophie
was not as interested in staying innocent and as he walked back to the office, he thought that perhaps it
wasn’t going to be such a bad night after all.

Chapter 8

Ella

Ella was anxious to get home so that she could check her reallove.com account. Capri had helped her
create her profile and she had been receiving notifications all day on her phone from men who had
sent her messages. She was excited to see what sort of men had contacted her and was hopeful that
she would also like a few of them. For the first time in months, she had gone through the day without
thinking about Joseph and wishing that he were still in her life.

“Hey Sophie,” she answered the phone with excitement.

“Hey Ella. What you up to?” Sophie sounded frazzled.

“Just going home.”

“I’ve never heard anyone sound so excited to be going home.” Sophie laughed.

“Okay, don’t laugh but I joined a dating website. I’m going to check my messages.” Ella laughed.

“Oh wow, exciting.” Sophie grinned and then sighed as Jacob started crying again. “Oh my gosh, hold
on a second.” She went and picked Jacob up and patted him on the back.

“How’s my nephew?” Ella asked softly into the phone, she had completely forgotten all the drama of
yesterday and was hopeful that Sophie and Max were doing okay.

“He’s good, I think.” Sophie spoke softly. “Aside from being a baby.”

“Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sophie sighed. “Anyway enough of my daytime TV life, let me hear about your
dating stuff.”

“Want me to read the emails out to you?” Ella’s excitement was infectious.

“Sure.” Sophie smiled into the phone. “Let me get comfortable on the couch and put you on speaker
phone.”

“That’s okay. Hold on a second, I’m just opening the door.” Ella ran to her room and turned on her
laptop. Then she took out a pen and a pad so that she could take some notes. “Hold on, let me a glass
of water.”

“Sounds good.” Sophie sat back and rubbed Jacob’s back. He turned his face up to hers and smiled
and she felt her heart melting. When she looked at him she felt nothing but tenderness, though, her
heart still ached that he was Max’s son with Alexis.

“I’m back,” Ella squealed into the phone. “Okay, loading the page now.”

“Exciting.” Sophie laughed softly.

“Oh my gosh, I have twenty-five messages.” Ella exclaimed in excitement. “Goldengirl lives.”

“You did not call yourself Golden girl?”

“Capri helped me choose the name.”

“Who?”

“Oh, a new friend I made. She told me about the site, I’ll have to introduce you. She is awesome.”

“Oh ok.” Sophie tried to keep her voice light but she was jealous. Ella had gone out and gotten new
friends and she was still practically friendless. She thought back to Nick, the guy she’d met at the
park. He’d been fun and friendly and made her feel like she was just a normal young girl again. She
wished she had exchanged numbers with him. He could have been a good friend.

“O.M.G.—listen to this pervert.” Ella groaned. “I can’t believe he thinks that this will win a girls
heart.”

“Okay, let me hear.”

Ella cleared her throat and read, “Dear Goldengirl, I love your photos. You look hot as fuck. I could
do you like you’ve never been done before. I have ten inches and I’m not scared to use all of them.
Holla back if you’re interested. Eminemsbro.”

“Oh my.” Sophie laughed. “He really called himself Eminemsbro?”

“I want to know if he really has ten inches.” Ella laughed.

“He sounds like a pervert for sure.” Sophie groaned.

“Tell me about it. Ooh, this guy looks cute. Let’s see what he said.” Ella tapped on the message and
started to read. “Goldengirl, you are drop dead gorgeous. In fact, I just got back from the hospital
because after seeing your photo my heart stopped! In all seriousness, I am very interested in
taking you on a date. I work on Wall Street as a broker, yes I make a lot of money but no, I’m not
an ass. I enjoy going to museums and fine wines. I’d love to take you out for dinner.
Imakebigmoola.”

“He seems ok.” Sophie laughed. “Kinda.”

“He does talk about money a lot but I’ll put him in the maybe pile.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

“Okay, this guy is a no, and this one is a no as well and ooh, this guy looks super-hot,” Ella squealed
with excitement. “O.M.G.—Sophie, I wish you could see this one.”

“Let me hear what he sent to you.”

“Okay hold on.” Ella sounded breathless. “Wow. Here goes.” She cleared her throat again. “ Hello
Goldengirl, I take it you choose your name because you have blond hair? I like the pixie cut, it is
very cute and suits your face. I also have blond hair and think I should have called myself
Goldenboy, so that I would have a more witty and appealing message. But hopefully, this one
works just as well. I’m new to online dating and decided to join because my friend found his wife
on the site. Some things about me: I like dogs, walking in the park, sushi and interrupting
strangers conversations! I would love to meet for coffee one day if you aren’t put off.
Iliketolisten.”

“He sounds funny.” Sophie’s voice was enthusiastic. “You should message him back.”

“Right now?”

“Why not?”

“Doesn’t that look too eager?” Ella sighed. “Maybe I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Or tonight then.” Ella laughed. “This is so exciting.”

“I’m glad you’re happy, Ella.”

“I know. I’m so over Joseph.”

“You don’t know how happy that makes me, El.” Sophie’s arms were starting to ache and she
adjusted Jacob. He opened his eyes briefly and then closed them again and she kissed him on the
forehead. She never thought she would have a maternal instinct for someone else’s child.

“Okay—here’s one more that sounds promising.” Ella laughed. “Is it wrong of me to only read the
messages from the guys I find cute?”

“Well, you may be missing out on some nice guys.” Sophie spoke earnestly.

“But if I’m not attracted to them, what’s the point?”

“No point, I guess.”

“Okay, this is from surfgod77.” Ella laughed. “I even love his name. Okay here is his message.” She
studied the photo of the hot blond man on her screen and grinned. “Hola, You are one hot mama. I
like that. I hope you look as good in person. I’m a Pro surfer. I live in Hawaii, New Jersey, Puerto
Rico and Australia because I travel a lot. If we hit it off maybe you can join me on the road. Check
you later. Surfgod77.”

“Oh no way Ella.” Sophie laughed. “He sounds like a dumbass.”

“But he looks like a hottie. He’s a definite yes.” Ella laughed.

“So two of them are yeses?”

“I think so.” Ella giggled. “I’ll email three of them back and try and set up dates.”

“Be careful, okay Ella?”

“Of course.” Ella paused. “Don’t tell Max though, I don’t want him to worry or hire security to
follow me around.”

“Oh Ella.” Sophie laughed. “Okay, okay.”

“Great. Anyway, I’m going to go to the gym now. I’ll see you later?”

“Yes! And thanks again for looking after Jacob. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’ll bring my laptop. It’ll be fun.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

***

Ella ran a quick comb through her hair before running out of the door with her laptop. She was happy
that Max and Sophie were taking steps to get their relationship back on track. A night out would do
them good and it would give her time to dote on her nephew and respond to her messages on
reallove.com. She was really excited about all the messages she had gotten; something about the
prospect of meeting a man who was single and ready to settle down was utterly charming and
wonderful to her. She laughed as she got into a cab. It was ironic that both she and Sophie were both
so young and gorgeous but both of them wanted to settle down.

She got out of the cab and practically ran into the building; she was so excited to finally respond to
the messages that she hoped that her brother and Sophie were ready to leave already.

“Hi sis.” Max opened the door and gave her a hug. “Sophie’s still getting ready.”

“Still?” Ella sighed and followed her brother into his luxurious apartment that was starting to look
more and more like a home. Sophie had brought in her feminine touch and there were flowers, throw
blankets and magazines strewn all over the apartment. “Well, it’s look nice and bright in here for
once.” She laughed. “Not like the bat cave anymore.”

“Well you know.” Max laughed. “Want a drink?” He offered his sister as he poured himself a scotch
on the rocks.

“No, I shouldn’t.” She grinned. “Let me go and check out Sophie.” She ran to the bedroom and saw
Jacob lying on the bed and Sophie was applying a bright red lipstick to her lips “Whoa, hot mama.”
Ella stared at her friend. “Are you trying to give Max a heart attack?”

“No.” Sophie grinned and stood up. “Do you think I look okay then?”

“You look gorgeous, Sophie.” Ella gushed and stared at the dress Sophie was wearing. “The dress is
a little slutty though—I take it you’re not going to a fine dining establishment?”

“No, not quite.” Sophie laughed self-consciously.

“Where are you guys going anyway?” Ella asked curiously. “And I like the Louboutin’s. New?”

“Yes. I went shopping at Sak’s today.” Sophie smiled. “I wanted to feel sexy tonight.”

“Well. I think you achieved look alright.” Ella smiled at her friend. “You’ll have to help me get
dressed for my dates.”

“Do you have any booked as yet?”

“No, I’m going to email them back tonight.”

“Oh fun.” Sophie sprayed her body liberally with some Vera Wang Princess perfume and twirled
around the room in her short red dress.

“Stunning.” Ella hugged her friend and then picked up Jacob. “Now get out of here, I have some
emails to send.”

“Okay, okay.” Sophie walked out of the room with her head high and Ella heard Max wolf whistle.
She walked into the living room to see them kissing.

“Hey guys, I have a baby here that shouldn’t witness such things.” Ella laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be a dork, Ella.” Max pulled away from Sophie and laughed at his sister. “Jacob will have to
get used to seeing us kiss.”

“So you’re going to keep him?” Ella knew this wasn’t the right time to bring it up but she had to
know.

“Well, we haven’t discussed it.” Max’s voice was reproachful as he glared at her.

“Of course we are going to keep him.” Sophie’s voice was soft. “He is Max’s child.”

“Well…” Max began and Sophie looked at him sternly.

“The child needs a home Max, we will give it to him.” Sophie and Max looked at each other for a
few moments and Ella felt like that there was something she had missed. What was going on here?
Was Max not the father? Knowing Alexis, that wouldn’t be a shock but would that mean that she had
cheated on Max? But she seemed way too sprung on Max to cheat on him. It just didn’t make sense.

“Thanks for looking after Jacob, Ella.” Sophie kissed the baby on the cheek and walked to the door.
“We won’t be home too late.”

“Stay out as late as you want.” Ella grinned and shooed her brother and best friend out of the door
before opening up the laptop and logging into the dating site.

***

“Capri, this is so awesome,” Ella gushed to her new friend over the phone. “I’ve gotten another ten
messages and I haven’t even responded to the other guys yet.”

“Yes,” Capri laughed. “It can be overwhelming and exciting at the same time. But remember not all of
these guys are as good as they sound online.”

“If some of them are half as good as they sound online, then I am going to be one happy girl.” Ella
joked while ogling one of the new guys photos. “So you think I should ask them to meet as soon as
possible?”

“Girl, yes. It’s not just women who lie on these sites. I’ve met some guys who were using photos that
were ten years too old or not even them. One guy I met used his best friends photo, child, he was not
cute and it was so awkward.”

“Why?”

Capri whispered. “Well, we had been talking for about two months before we met and we had been

telling each other we were in love. Let me tell you, I fell out of love with him, the moment I saw his
potbelly and gray head.”

“Oh Capri.” Ella laughed.

“And my standards ain’t dat high.” Capri laughed.

“Okay, so I’ll see if any of them want to do coffee?”

“Yeah, that’s good. And if that goes well, you can always extend the date and do something else.”

“Like?”

“Sexing?”

“What?!?!”

“I’m joking girl. Like dinner, maybe ice-skating, bowling, you know fun stuff where you can be
close.”

“Haha, I see.” Ella sipped some water. “Okay. Here is my standard response. Tell me how it
sounds.”

“Okay.”

“Hi insertscreennamehere, thanks for your message. I was happy to see that someone as
accomplished and funny as you would be interested in getting to know me. I am new to the online
dating world and really hoping to meet a nice guy to get to know. I would love to grab a coffee this
week if you are interested. Goldengirl.”

“That sounds okay.” Capri paused. “Though, it does sounds kinda generic.”

“I’ll add some more personal stuff for each guy in there. But overall it sounds good, yeah?”

“Yeah, it sounds good.”

“Yay me.”

“Girl, those guys are going to think they won the lottery when they meet you. Cute, blond, funny.”

“Aww, thanks Capri.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank your parents.” Capri laughed.

“Ooh. I just got an instant message from likestolisten,” Ella squealed. “Should I accept it?”

“Yes.” Capri sighed. “Look girl, I gotta go. Leroy is getting on my last nerves. I’ll speak to you
tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. Thanks Capri.” Ella hung up and clicked accept on the chat link and laughed at the
message likestolisten had sent her.

Likestolisten: Hi Goldengirl. I hope you don’t mind me messaging you instead of waiting for your
reply. I’ve been checking my inbox all day for a response.

Goldengirl: Hi Likestolisten. How are you? I was just about to send you a reply message.

Likestolisten: Well, there you go. You just made my day.

Goldengirl: Well, I do like to please.

Likestolisten: I am not going to take that in the perverted way. I promise.

Goldengirl: Perverted way? Huh?

Likestolisten: Read your sentence back again.

Goldengirl: Oh, oops. Haha. That is not what I meant.

Likestolisten: Do you want me to hold on while you send me my message?

Goldengirl: I was just going to say that maybe we could grab a coffee sometime.

Likestolisten: Is tomorrow good?

Goldengirl: Wow, you’re fast.

Likestolisten: I guess that’s why I have a gold medal from the Olympics.

Goldengirl: You do not!

Likestolisten: No, I don’t! But wouldn’t that have been awesome if I did.

Goldengirl: Haha. Yes. It would have been pretty awesome. So why do you like to listen so much?

Likestolisten: It goes well with my job.

Goldengirl: And that is?

Likestolisten: Something I’ll tell you about later? It’s quite boring.

Goldengirl: Okay.

Likestolisten: So what do you do?

Goldengirl: Just finishing up my bachelors degree and looking for a job.

Likestolisten: Aw. Good luck with the job search. It’s a hard market these days.

Goldengirl: Thanks. I’m fully prepared to be a barista at Starbucks if need be!!!

Likestolisten: I’ll have a grande soy caramel macchiato please.

Goldengirl: Coming right up kind sir.

Likestolisten: Do you want to meet at a Starbucks tomorrow? That way you can grab an application as
well and kill two birds with one stone.

Goldengirl: How thoughtful you are. We can meet by Union Square?

Likestolisten: Awesome. Around 7pm?

Goldengirl: That’s great!

Likestolisten: Awesome. I’ll let you go so you can respond to my message now!

Goldengirl: Haha. Bye.

Likestolisten: Bye.

Ella exited the instant message with a huge grin on her face. Likestolisten sounded like a really cool
guy. She felt a bit bad that she had deceived him but she didn’t want him to know that she was an
heiress and loaded. She wasn’t looking for a guy that was more interested in her fortune and family
business than in her. She looked at his photos again and sighed. He was gorgeous. He said he was six
foot with blond hair and brown eyes and from what she could see, he could have been a Hollywood
star. She felt her body warm at the idea of going on a date with him. She ran to the bathroom to study
herself in the mirror. She stared at her reflection and sighed. She knew she was pretty but she was so
sad at her haircut. The pixie cut didn’t take away from her looks but she missed her long flowing
blond hair; she felt like a boy without it.

Her ringing phone made her run back to the living room, she didn’t want Jacob to wake up and start
crying again. Taking care of a baby was proving to be a lot harder than she ever thought and while it
was kind of fun, she was already frustrated at how much he cried. She looked at the screen and saw
that it was Joseph who was calling her and she quickly pressed end. She didn’t want to talk to him,
didn’t want him to drag her down the path of pain again. But she couldn’t stop herself from listening
to the voicemail that he left.

“Ella, it’s Joseph. I miss you. I wish you were here to kiss and hold me. Call me, please. It’s
important. If you love your brother and you want to make sure his life isn’t ruined. Call me.” And then
the message ended. Ella was confused and scared. What was Joseph talking about? Did he have
something on Max that could get him into trouble? Ella bit her lip and sat on the couch. She needed to
make a decision. She may have to contact Joseph to find out exactly what was going on.

Chapter 9

Sophie

Sophie was more excited than she wanted to admit. In fact, she felt like there was something wrong
with her for being so excited to visit a sex club. She didn’t want Max to know that she felt kind of
turned on. She didn’t even want to acknowledge it herself.

“So are you sure you want to go, Sophie?” Max looked at her with a worried look on his face as he
drove. “I don’t want you to be shocked.”

“I’m not going to judge you, Max.” Sophie smiled at him softly, studying the lines on his face. He
looked like he had aged years in days. Oh her precious Max; she would do anything to wipe those
lines away but she needed to know. She needed to see what his life had been like before her.

“It may be hard not to.” He made a self-deprecating face. “It’s a seedy place, Sophie.”

“Why did you go there?”

“I wanted to get away from my everyday life.”

“Why?”

“There were a lot of reasons why, Sophie.” He sighed. “You know—part of me was angry at myself
for loving you, for wanting to be with you. I thought it was wrong. And then Alexis kinda swooped in
and she showed me a different side to life.”

“She introduced you to the clubs?” Sophie looked at him in surprise.

“She has a lot of demons, Sophie.” He tapped his fingers against the wheel. “That’s how we bonded.
We both wanted to escape the burdens of our lives.”

“What was wrong with her?”

“I don’t know.” Max looked at her in sorrow. “I never cared enough to find out.”

“But you were engaged.” Sophie looked at him shocked.

“Not because I loved her. We were so high on cocaine the night I proposed. It was my way of getting
her to stop.”

“Stop what?”

“From trying to fly off the top of the Empire State Building.”

“What?” Sophie’s voice cracked.

“She thought she was Superwoman. She wanted to go and save the world.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I was selfish. I only worried about my own problems.”

“Oh.” Sophie felt sad.

“She was about to jump because she thought she could fly. And even though, I was high, I knew that
something was wrong. That she shouldn’t jump.”

“Does cocaine do that to people?”

“I think she was on ecstasy as well, maybe even mushrooms.” He sighed. “I think she may have been
in love with someone else as well. She reminded me of myself. She acted heartbroken.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. So I proposed. I told her she couldn’t save the world just yet because I wanted her to save me.
To marry me and to stay with me.”

“You wanted her to save you?” Sophie turned her face and looked out the window with tears welling
in her eyes. “That’s a lot to ask of someone you don’t love.”

“I only said it to get her to come to me, Sophie. You have to understand that. I didn’t want her to
jump.”

“It just sounds like more than you would tell someone you didn’t love, Max.”

Max pulled the car into a parking lot and turned to Sophie. “Let’s go home, Sophie. Please. Let’s just
forget this. This is not a good path for us to go down. I don’t foresee this doing any good for our
relationship.”

“I need to see this, Max.” Sophie turned to him with pained eyes. “I need to understand how the Max I
love could have gotten someone pregnant and not known about it. How the Max I love could have
been with someone like Alexis. How the Max I love could have all these secrets. I need to know,
Max.”

“I can’t lose you, Sophie.” His voice was pained. “I’ve been waiting all my life for you. I’ve literally
gone to hell and back hoping that I would have a chance with you. And now that I have you, I can’t
lose you.”

“Max, you will never lose me. There is nothing you could have done that will make me leave you.
There is nothing that you could do that would make me turn my back on you. I’ve lived with my heart
consumed by you for so many years that you own it by now.”

“I own your heart?”

Sophie nodded. “And you’re the only one that can return it.”

“I’ll never return it. Your heart is the most precious possession I’ve ever been given.” He smiled at
her and kissed her hard before placing his hand over her heart. “The beat of your heart signifies to
me, my own life, you give me life, Sophie.”

“And we have a wonderful life to live, Max.” She placed his hand over her stomach. “We’re having a
baby, Max. Someone who will represent the best of both of us. Someone that was created by all of
our love.”

“It scares me, Sophie.”

“Why?” Sophie looked at him in concern ignoring the people who were walking past their car looking
in with interest.

“I’m scared I’m going to love our baby more than I love Jacob.” He looked at her with worry in her
eyes. “I’m scared it will be evident and Jacob will be scarred for life, knowing that he wasn’t the
baby that we wanted, that he wasn’t truly ours. That I never loved his mother.”

“Oh Max.” Sophie stared at him in wonder. “I had no idea you felt this way.”

“Maybe I should do a paternity test?” Max looked at Sophie for an answer.

“Do you know who the other father could be?” She looked at him frowning.

“Yes.” His voice was firm and he looked away. “Yes I do.”

“And would he make a good father?” Sophie paused. “And would he want to be in the baby’s life?”

“No.” Max’s face was hard. “He wouldn’t acknowledge the baby. He’s married, Sophie.”

“Oh.”

“And he’s an important figure. It would lead to a lot of trouble. I can’t say much more now.” He
frowned. “It’s complicated and I don’t want you involved.”

“Don’t do a paternity test.” Sophie grabbed his hand. “A baby doesn’t need all this strife. He’ll never
grow up happy in those circumstances. We will make good parents, Max.”

“Can you love him, Sophie?”

“Yes.” Sophie thought about Jacobs’s innocent face. “Yes, I can love him.” She bit her lip and started
playing with her hair and looked out of the window. “I never told anyone this before but my uncle, the
one that raised me, he dated my mother before she married my dad. And he really, really loved her.
But then she met his brother, my dad, and they fell head over heels in love. And my mom ditched my
uncle and married my dad. It was years before my uncle finally married his best friend, my aunt, and
they say that he never really got over my mom. When she died, they say he was devastated.”

“Oh your poor aunt.” Max looked at her in sympathy.

“Yes, it’s quite sad.” She looked at him sorrowfully. “But my aunt never loved me less. She never
looked at me with distaste or hurt or even hate. She loved me with all of her heart and while I was
lonely I never doubted her love for me. I want to be that person for Jacob. No child deserves to feel
like he wasn’t wanted or good enough. It’s not his fault that his parents made poor decisions.”

“And that is why I love you, Sophie.” He brought her towards him and they hugged awkwardly
through the seatbelts. “Your heart is so huge.”

“Remember that, Max.” She grinned. “Now let’s go to the sex club.”

“Ha.” Max peered at her. “You look like you’re excited?”

She grinned at him and licked her lips.

“Oh my god, you’re excited to visit the sex club,” Max exclaimed. “Just what do you think is going to
happen?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t have on any underwear.” She raised an eyebrow and he fanned his face.

“Sophie, you are trying to make me a bad man, aren’t you?” He grinned and started the car. “Then
let’s go.”

“So where are we going?” She looked around her curiously.

“We’re going to Jersey to a secret club called ‘The Games’.”

“The Games?” She laughed. “Original.”

“It’s a starter club,” he explained. “If you like it, we can go to a better one.”

“Seedier one?”

“No.” He grinned. “I can tell you know nothing about the lifestyle, seedy is what you see on TV.”

“So these clubs aren’t seedy?”

“No.” He looked at her with a smile. “The clientele may be seedy but the actual club isn’t. We’re not
going to some dive bar in a bad neighborhood.”

“Okay.” Sophie sat back and studied Max as he drove. He seemed very controlled for some reason.
She could tell he was tense and she wasn’t sure why. He had seemed excited to find out that she was
excited but something in his reaction had made her worry. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger
on. Maybe it was because he was excited himself. She wasn’t sure what that meant. Did he miss going
to the clubs? Was this something he needed in his life? And just how far did he go? What did he mean
about this being a lifestyle? She was worried that she wasn’t enough for him. She loved him more
than life itself but if he needed to be with other women, that was not going to be an option for her. She
would leave him because staying would mean breaking her heart.

Chapter 10

Max

Max drove steadily. He didn’t want Sophie to notice that his heart was racing. He hadn’t been to ‘The
Games’ in a while and he wasn’t sure who would be there that he knew. He hoped that all the usual
girls were long gone by now. He should have thought it out a bit better, this was the club he had
always brought his new assistants to, to see if they would be comfortable with the role he needed
them for. He wasn’t sure if Sophie realized that he had come to these clubs without Alexis. And he
wasn’t sure if he wanted her to know that. Something told him that she wouldn’t be as understanding if
she knew he had fucked half the women who worked there.

“So what will we do when we get there?” Sophie turned to him and he smiled at the eagerness in her
voice.

“We’ll leave it up to the moment.” He smiled briefly at her and turned back to the road so that he
could think.

“Are you okay with us going, Max?” Sophie’s voice was tight and worried.

“Yes, of course.” He smiled at her while warning bells rang out in his chest. If he were a smart man,
he would turn the car around and drive them somewhere else, far away from New Jersey and ‘The
Games’. But he didn’t listen to his inner voice and kept on driving.

“Have you written any poetry lately, Sophie?” He attempted to change the subject as they drove in
silence.

“No, not really.”

“Written in your journal?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “I try to write in it every day.”

“Can you remember anything you’ve written lately?” He looked over at her. “I’d like to hear it.”

“Not by heart,” she lied. She could remember her words of anguish as well as if she had written them
moments ago.

“I wrote something recently.” He paused. “I wrote a poem.”

“You did?” She looked at him in surprise. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s something my therapist taught me to do, to express my feelings.” He laughed at her face. “I know,
I know. I have a therapist. I’ll tell you more about it later.”

“I never knew you had one.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “How often do you see him or her?”

“As often as I need.” His voice was low. “There are some things I need to tell you but tonight is not
the night.”

“Okay.” She reached over and squeezed his hand, her voice soft and sweet. “Whenever you’re ready,
Max.”

“Thanks.” He pulled into the parking lot of a fancy restaurant. “I want to recite the poem to you before
we go in.”

“Go in?” Sophie looked at the steak restaurant in front of her. “Are we eating first?”

“No.” He grinned at her puzzled face. “You’ll see.”

“I’m so confused right now.” She laughed and Max turned towards her undoing his seatbelt.

“From the first time,” He held her hand. “That’s the name of the poem.” He gazed into her eyes and
tried to penetrate her mind. He wanted her to understand how deep his words were and how honest he
was being. He cleared his throat and started to recite his poem:

“From the first time I saw you,

I knew that I was yours.

In the infinity of time and space,

That moment was destined.

The way your heart beats in mine,

The way that your eyes make me see,

The way that your smile makes me happy,

The way that your tears make me sad.

I’d give a million lifetimes for one day of your life,

I’d give a billion dollars for one kiss from your lips.

I can not be without you.

I can not see without you.

I can not live without you.

I knew all this from the first time I saw you.”

“Wow.” Sophie looked at him with tears in her eyes. “No one’s ever written something so sweet for
me before.”

“I hope it doesn’t sound creepy.” He smiled at her gently. “I’m not some perverted man. I didn’t love
you love you from the first time I met you as a kid. But I did feel a connection with you. It wasn’t until
later that I knew that I loved you as more than a friend. As more than a sister.”

“I know.”

“I tried to fight it, Sophie. I did everything that I could. You deserve better than me.”

“Max, you are my life. There is no one better for me than you.” She leaned towards him and
whispered in his ears. “And I knew the very first time that I saw you that I was going to love you for

an eternity.”

“Oh Sophie.” Max’s voice was emotional. “Please let us always remember these words and feelings,
no matter what happens.” His words held an ominous tone and Sophie felt scared inside. She had a
feeling that she had opened Pandora’s box by insisting on going to the sex club and she wasn’t sure if
their relationship would ever be the same again.

***

Max walked slowly to the restaurant with Sophie’s arm tucked under his. He had a foreboding feeling
in the pit of his stomach. He had already seen a few Mercedes and BMW’s that he recognized. Some
of the old Johns were still frequenting the club it seemed. Maybe they had a contingent of Japanese
men come over for business. They were the ones that paid the highest to get taken to clubs like these.
And they were always taken to ‘The Games’ because it was innocent and fun. The X Club was for the
men and women who knew what the lifestyle was about and had a lot to lose. Men like him, and men
like Senator Frank Phillips. The X Club was for the men of power who liked to take control in all
aspects. Max never wanted Sophie to see that place.

“Hello, we have a reservation.” He greeted the Maître d’. It was still Pierre and as always Pierre’s
face was blank as a slate. No one would have thought they had known each other for years, that Pierre
had been his hook-up for a countless supply of drugs and women.

“What name is the reservation under, Sir?” Pierre looked down at the pad in front of him, pen in hand.
Maxwell wanted to laugh at how seriously Pierre took his role.

“Max.”

“Mr. Max?” Pierre looked up.

“Yes.” Max paused. “I’m here for games night.”

“Oh, I see.” Pierre looked at him and smiled tightly and then looked at Sophie and frowned. Max
knew what he was thinking. Sophie looked too innocent and too gentle. She didn’t fit the look of the
normal kind of woman that came to these places. She looked too fragile but Max knew that Sophie
was strong enough to withstand the men of ‘The Games’. It was The X Club that he was most scared
about.

“Can we go down, Pierre?” Max slipped up and addressed Pierre by his first name and the man
frowned at him again. He looked agitated and scratched his head nervously.

“I guess so,” he finally said and opened a side door. Max grabbed a hold of Sophie and they walked
through it quickly. Sophie gasped as they walked through a dark corridor. The only light came from
tall white candles and classical music played as they walked. She thought she recognized Bach. The
corridor was fragrant, and reminded her of jasmine. She heard light laughter coming from further
down and she felt her heart beating quickly. This was it. She was finally going to see inside Max’s
secret world. “Ready?” He turned to her and smiled and she squeezed his hand, too overwhelmed to
say anything.

They walked into a large room that had bright lights and a lot of beautiful women. There was a long
bar at the far end and lots of vases of beautiful and exotic flowers. Max nodded at Sarafina, the
Eastern European Mom to all the girls. She was sitting on a long chaise chair talking to a middle-aged
Mid-Westerner. The guy looked like it was his first time in paradise and Max held a smile. He
supposed this was like a candy store for men. He saw the man turn and look at Sophie and he grabbed
her closer to him. He didn’t want anyone to get any ideas.

“So, where is everyone?” Sophie looked at him curiously. “I don’t see anyone having sex,” she
whispered into his ear and he laughed.

“What exactly do you think a sex club is?”

“Where people have sex?” She frowned and looked embarrassed.

“So, let me tell you a little secret,” he whispered back into her ear. “We’re not in the club yet. This is
the façade for the cops and the losers who think they are coming to a whore house like that guy over
there.”

Sophie turned and looked at the guy with Sarafina and studied him closely. “He doesn’t look like a
freak.”

“A freak?”

“You know, the type of guy that would come to a sex club.” Sophie’s face turned red as she realized
what she had said. “Oops, I’m sorry, Max. You know what I mean.”

“It’s okay.” He laughed. “I’ve been called worse. Let’s get a drink.”

“Should we drink?”

“Yes.” He smiled at her warmly. “They need to think we are inebriated enough to not judge the
others. We won’t get in without consuming alcohol.”

“Oh wow. Okay.” Sophie walked up to the bar and tossed her hair over her shoulders. Max watched
her sashaying with a smile. This was a Sophie he had never seen before. “I’ll have a Tequila Sunrise,
please.” She looked over her shoulder at Max. “And whatever the man’s getting.” She took out a
twenty dollar bill from her purse and laid it on the bar. “Keep the change.”

Benny, the bartender, looked at her with a smile. “I’m going to need another twenty for your drink
alone.”

“Forty dollars for one drink?” Sophie’s voice rose and Max walked up to her quickly.

“Don’t worry about it, Benny. I’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks, Mr. Max. It’s good to see you again.” The bartender beamed at Max and Max tried to look
away, hoping that Benny would get the hint. “I’ll have to let Gina and the girls know you’re here.”

“That’s okay—” But before Max could finish his sentence Benny was calling out to someone across
the room.

“Gina, Mr. Max is here,” he shouted out to a tall statuesque blonde and Sophie watched the scene
unfold in front of her like a movie scene.

“Why Max, it’s so good to see you.” The blonde came up to Max and pressed her lips against his. He
was so taken aback that he didn’t immediately withdraw from her gaze. “Tasting as good as ever.”
She tinkled while pressing her ample bosoms into his chest. He smiled at her coolly, and introduced
her to Sophie.

“Gina, I’d like you to meet Sophie.”

She turned around and studied shy and nervous Sophie, who looked beautiful and completely out of
place. “Your new assistant?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “She looks different from the rest.”
She reached over and grabbed Sophie’s breasts in her dress. “And her breasts are real?”

Sophie stood there with a dazed look in her eyes, like a deer in headlights. Max wanted to grab her
close to him and protect her but he knew that there was no way they would get in if he was acting like
a protective father or husband.

“She’s not my new assistant.” He smiled, not wanting to say more than that.

“Oh?” Gina looked at him hard then, studying his face. “You do look different.”

“Thanks.”

“I haven’t seen you at X recently either.”

“No.”

“We’ve missed you.” She grabbed his hand and placed his middle finger in her mouth and sucked it.
“I’ve missed you.”

“I took a break.” He slowly withdrew his finger, not wanting to upset her. She was the number two
woman in the club after Sarafina and he knew that she would kick them out if she felt offended. He
sighed to himself as he made eye contact with Sophie; she was staring at him with hurt eyes. He’d
have to explain to her why he was acting the way he was afterwards.

“So is this your first time at the club, doll?’

Sophie nodded wordlessly and Gina cackled. He’d never noticed just how witchy she had sounded
before.

“Are you guys looking for a threesome or just sampling the fun?” Gina slid an arm around Sophie’s
shoulders and played with her hair. “Cause I’m available tonight.”

“I think we’ll just test the waters tonight. Thanks, Gina.”

“No problem, Max.” She sidled back over to him. “You know where I am if you change your mind.”
She ran her hands over the front of his pants and grabbed his cock. “I miss fucking you. No one knows
how to work a long wide cock quite like you do.” She smiled at him and walked off.

Max walked over to Sophie and she glared at him.

“What the fuck was that?” Her voice was high and angry and he looked at her in shock. He had
expected her to be angry but he hadn’t expected her to show it so clearly.

“Sophie, I—”

“Why didn’t you introduce me as your fiancée?” Sophie glared at him. “Or would you rather Gina
didn’t know?”

“Sophie.” His voice was pained.

“Yes, Mr. Max.” She spoke in an accent.

“Don’t do this.” He looked at her with serious eyes. “Please trust me. You wanted to do this.”

She stared at him with unshed tears. “I don’t know anymore. I don’t want to see you with other
women.”

“I won’t do anything with other women.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He pulled her towards him. “I love you, Sophie.”

“I love you too.” She looked around her. “Though I don’t think I’m a big enough slut for this place.”

“Sshh.” He laughed. “Trust me every guy in here wishes he had a chance with you tonight. You are
gorgeous, sexy and you look like an angel. Everyone is wondering what I did to get someone like
you.”

“Whatever.” Sophie laughed.

“Trust me.” He kissed her and grabbed her ass, bringing her in close to him so that she could feel his
hardness against her belly. “I want to fuck you right here and now. I want you so badly.”

“Oh Max.” She groaned against him. “Is it bad that I feel so horny right now?”

“If it’s bad, then I don’t want to be right.”

“Max, you are so corny.” Sophie giggled.

“That’s why you love me.”

“I knew there had to be a reason.” She poked him in the stomach.

“Are you sure you want to go in, Soph? We can leave now and I can make love to you in the parking
lot.”

“In the car?”

“Nah, bent over the car.” He licked his lips. “With your ass high in the air.”

Sophie stared at him with wide eyes and he grinned. “Don’t worry, we can still do that after.”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, let’s go.” He grabbed her arm and walked to the bar. ‘Just follow my lead,” he whispered to
her.

“Okay,” she squeaked.

“I’d like to order two mai-tais, please.”

“Virgin?” The bartender looked at Max knowingly.

“Extra virgin.”

“This way, please.” He nodded at Max and Max and Sophie followed him down a hall to another
door. “Enjoy your evening.”

“Thanks,” Sophie muttered but the man was already gone. Max led her into a dark room and she could
barely see through the thick smoke. It wasn’t cigarette smoke but seemed like some sort of dry ice.
Sophie could hear women screaming and moaning and one man kept grunting out “fuck yeah.” She
tried not to look around her as she didn’t want to draw attention to herself but this atmosphere was
completely different to the bar outside. She felt very uncomfortable and made sure to stay close to
Max.

Max guided Sophie through the room, unsure of which station to take her to. He knew that she had
been freaked out by his encounter with Gina and he wanted to make sure that she wasn’t hurt by
participating in this experience. There were four stations in ‘The Games’: the swapping section, the
watching section, the anything goes section and the blind section. All of them held the potential for
disaster but some were better than others. There was no way that he was going to take her to the
swapping section, though that was the section he had frequented the most at the club. He hadn’t cared
which women he had been with when he’d been at the club and so it had been the most fun for him.
He didn’t really care about the watching section; he didn’t want to watch other people doing it and he
didn’t care if people watched him or not, it certainly didn’t get him off. So that left him with the
anything goes section, where he and Sophie would be able to use any of the machines available in the
large macabre room. He thought that may be the best bet, however, the only problem was there was
potential for someone else to join in or watch. And they would have to do something. There was no
way they could go in the room and just sit there. The other choice was the blind section. This was the
section where you could do whatever you wanted to whoever you wanted and you never quite knew
who you were doing. He knew that he could make sure to hold on to Sophie and try to ensure that they
were paired together but one wrong movement and they could end up with someone else. There was
no way he was going to let that happen.

It seemed to him that their best bet would be the watching section—that was the only section that he
could guarantee that they stay together. And if all went according to plan, they could just watch
someone and then leave.

“Come Sophie.” He held her close to him and tried not to smile as she took in everything going on
around her. He was impressed that she hadn’t begged him to leave already. He knew that most people
weren’t comfortable with these types of clubs. He had no use for them anymore himself and he
wanted Sophie to realize that this wasn’t his life anymore.

They walked into a dark room that was filled with people in various stages of undress. Many of the
couples were making out, a few were having sex and some were just staring at the couple on the stage
fucking. He recognized Gina as the female and she smiled at him slyly as they made contact. He didn’t
know the man but he was sure that he had paid Gina handsomely for the night’s pleasure.

Max took a seat and Sophie sat next to him. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Are they
really having sex?”

“Yes.” He grinned at her and ordered them both drinks.

“Wow.” She curled up next to him and placed her hand on his hardening cock. “This turns you on,
huh?”

“You turn me on.” He smiled at her and she laughed. She continued to rub his cock through his pants
and he reached over and ran his hand up her leg. He allowed it to travel up her thigh and she opened
her legs slightly to let his hand in. His fingers touched her pussy and he grinned. She hadn’t lied; she
really had on no panties.

“Max,” she hissed at him and brushed his hand away. “People might see.”

“That’s the point.” He laughed but moved his hand. One of the waitresses brought them their drinks
and Max noticed that Sophie was trying hard not to look at the lady’s naked breasts. He handed her
her drink and she guzzled it down quickly.

“I’m not really feeling very drunk,” she whispered in his ears. “Do you think they water the drinks
down?”

“It’s not alcohol, Sophie.” He grinned at her. “You can’t drink alcohol remember?”

“Oh shit,” she exclaimed and her hand flew to her mouth. “I completely forgot.”

“It’s okay, Sophie. I assume you’ve never been pregnant before?”

“I just can’t believe I forgot.” Max could tell that she was distressed. “What sort of mother am I going
to make to Jacob and to my own baby?”

“It’s okay, Sophie. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh Max.”

“You can always count on me. I’m always here for you. And I looked into parenting classes today, we
are going to be able to start in a few days.”

“Oh Max.” Sophie smiled and looked away. She was happy that Max was really stepping up to the
plate but she was really disappointed in herself. How could she have forgotten she couldn’t drink
alcohol? What sort of damage would she have done to her baby? All because she was consumed with
Max’s past and coming to this club. “My baby is more important than this,” she whispered to herself.

Max cursed himself mentally. He should have told her that he had already called ahead and told the
bartender to make the drinks virgin. He knew that Gina and Sarafina would be suspicious if he had
ordered virgin drinks so he hadn’t said anything to Sophie beforehand or when he ordered the drinks.
But Benny knew the deal; they were old friends and hadn’t even questioned his request. Max sighed
and drew Sophie towards him.

“Let’s enjoy tonight and put all worries aside for tomorrow, eh?”

“I’ll try.”

“Well maybe I can help.” He pulled Sophie towards him and placed his hand over her breast,
molding it to his palm. She leaned into him and kissed him pushing her tongue into his mouth with
urgency. He slipped his finger down the front of her dress and pinched her nipple. She squirmed
against him and he felt his cock pushing against his pants uncomfortably. She reached down and

massaged his cock before undoing his zipper and pulling him out. He was surprised that she seemed
to be getting as into it as she was. He groaned as he felt her warm hands around his cock, squeezing
the tip and he pulled her dress up a bit so that his hand could slide up to massage her pussy a little
easier.

“Having fun?” Gina’s voice interrupted them and Max groaned.

“Yes, thanks.” He nodded at her hoping she would walk away. But she stood in front of them, proudly
naked. He could tell she had used glitter lotion on her body because her breasts were sparkling.

“Maybe you guys will go next.” She smiled at him cruelly. “I know you certainly never minded
before.”

“I don’t think so.” His voice was tight and he could feel that Sophie’s hand had stilled on his cock.

“But why not, Max?” Gina purred and stepped closer towards him. “I’m sure you’re friend wouldn’t
mind.” She looked over at Sophie dismissively. “And if she doesn’t want to go up there with you, I
can.” She grinned at him and sat on his lap, Sophie quickly removed her hand and he felt his cock
trapped underneath her ass. “For old time’s sake,” she whispered in his ear and rubbed herself back
and forth gently on his lap. He felt his cock growing hard again and resisted the urge to push her off
him.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Sophie spoke up, loud and calm. Max looked at her in surprise and
with a new respect. “Mr. Max and I would have no problem going up there together.”

“Oh?” Gina peered at Sophie in surprise and Max gasped as he felt the opening of her pussy on top of
his cock. He knew that with one wrong move, he would find himself in her and that was something he
didn’t want to happen. He stood up quickly and lifted Gina off him.

“Yes, that’s no problem at all. We’re quite happy to go up on stage.” Max tried to hold his anger in,
leaned over to Gina and whispered in her ear, “If you ever try to molest my fiancée or myself again, I
will come after you.” His voice held a threat and he knew that he had jeopardized his and Sophie’s
time in the club but there was no way that he was going to keep quiet.

“Why Max, I was just having some fun. Just like you used to.” Gina smiled at him coldly as Sophie
stood up. “I suppose Alexis knows you have a new fiancée.”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Max stared back at her, willing her to continue on with this game.

“Well, I don’t want this to get ugly, Max.” Gina laughed and ran her hand down his chest. “Why don’t
you two just get ready for the stage and we’ll let it go.”

“Fine.” He grabbed Sophie’s hand and drew her close to him. “Are you sure you want to go through
with this?”

She nodded silently and stared at Gina. “I am not going to let this little bitch win,” she whispered to
him and he burst out laughing. He’d never heard his Sophie use such language before. Max felt a part
of him expand with pride. The Sophie he knew and loved was a lot more complex and astute than he
had ever given her credit for.

Chapter 11

Sophie

She tried to normalize her breathing and her emotions. Sophie wanted to rip Gina’s fake blond hair
out of its roots. She had seen her sliding up and down on Max’s leg and she knew that her naked body
must have been very close to his penis. She didn’t want to know how close because she may have
committed murder and she wanted her child to have a mother that they didn’t have to visit in jail.

“Follow me,” Gina ordered her and Max and Sophie gulped in a mouthful of air. She had no idea
what she had just gotten them signed up for. Sex in front of a group of people? The more she thought
about it as she walked, the harder it was for her to make the steps. There was no way she could do
this. She stared at Gina’s ass as she walked. The lady may be a bitch but she had a great body, she
turned to look at Max and she noticed that he was staring at Gina as well. Was he wishing he could
take her up on the stage instead of her? She tried to crush the hurt and worry that was bubbling up
inside of her. She had to make sure that she gave him everything he had gotten from those other
women. She knew deep inside that he loved her but she just didn’t know if he was truly able to give
up this life. She had to see if this was something she could accept.

“Max, you know how this works.” Gina led them to a small room filled with clothes and sex toys.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” And with that she smirked at Sophie and walked out of the room.

“Are you sure about this, Sophie?” He looked deep into her eyes. “We can leave, if you want.”

Sophie was about to ask to leave when she looked down at his cock. It was still protruding from his
pants and he was hard as a rock. No matter what he was saying, he was still turned on and horny. She
shook her hand and spoke firmly. “No, I want to do this. What do we have to do next?”

“Now we take off all of our clothes.” He looked at her shocked face and smiled. “We can put on an
outfit if we want but…”

“But what?” She frowned.

“But then we have to put on a show?”

“A show?”

“Yeah. If we put on outfits, we have to act out our fantasy to the audience. Or we can go up naked and
just have sex.”

“Oh.” Sophie flushed. “I don’t know which one sounds easier.”

“I don’t know which one will be easier for you, Sophie.” He paused. “I’ve always just had sex.
Never done the acting part.”

She looked at him then and she could see a question in his eyes. “Then let’s act it out.” She smiled
and swallowed hard. “What characters shall we be?”

“Well, we can do the policeman/random person routine, doctor/patient, teacher/student,
stepdad/stepdaughter, Hooker/John.”

“Wow, you’ve thought about this a lot.” She laughed.

“Babysitter/father, boss/employee,” He continued and she poked him.

“Okay, okay.” She ran her finger across his cheek. “Which one do you want to do?”

“It’s up to you, Sophie.”

“I don’t know.” She groaned.

“What about stripper and customer?” He pulled her towards him and grabbed her ass. “Then you can
rub your ass all over me and feel my—”

“So what have you guys decided?” Gina walked back in and frowned at their embrace. “Now, now
folks, no sex before the stage.”

“We’re doing a stripper routine. Tell them to put on adequate music,” Max commanded her. “Now.”

“I see Sir is back.” Gina grinned at him and turned around. Sophie looked at Max in confusion.

“What does she mean by Sir?”

He sighed and kissed her hard before pulling back. “That was my name for a while.”

“Why Sir?” She frowned.

“I used to be a Dom.”

“What?” She felt her eyes popping out. “You what?”

“That’s not my life anymore.” He studied her face. “I wasn’t suited to being a Dom. It didn’t excite
me as much.”

“As much as the clubs?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I didn’t want the intimacy of a constant relationship, I didn’t want to develop the
trust needed to be a good Dom.”

“Who was your sub?” she whispered.

“Alexis,” he muttered. “But you couldn’t really call it a Dom/sub relationship.”

“Were you going to tell me?”

“No Sophie. I wasn’t.” He clenched his fist. “Alexis means nothing to me. I don’t want to bring her up
into every conversation.”

“Don’t be angry, Max.” Sophie softened her voice. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. You make me happy, Sophie. Don’t you know that?” His eyes pierced hers. “I only did
those things to mute the pain I was in. To try to forget how much I wanted you.”

“I just want to be enough, Max,” she whispered. “I want to be enough.”

“You are more than enough.” He pulled her dress up, so that she was standing in front of him naked
and he looked at her in awe. “You are the most beautiful, perfect woman in the world.”

Silently she reached over and undid his shirt and pulled it off. She then pulled his pants and boxers

down so that he was naked in front of her as well.

“So what shall we wear?” He grinned at her and they looked in the closets for costumes.

“What would a slutty stripper wear?” She grinned at him and looked through the different outfits.

“A slutty bikini.” He grinned. He then found a pair of gym pants and pulled them on. “And I am going
to wear a pair of cotton gym shorts. I heard it’s the best way to get a lap dance.”

“Uh huh.” Sophie laughed and found some bikinis. She groaned as she looked at them and pulled on a
black G-string thong and a top that was so small that it barely covered her nipples.

“Now that is hot.” He grinned at her before rubbing her nipples with his hands. He grinned as they
hardened and bent down to put one in his mouth.

“Max,” she moaned as he sucked and he pulled back slightly as they heard Gina enter the room.

“Ready?” She stared at them and they walked over to her. “Go up on that stage. Remember to speak
loudly. The audience wants to hear everything.”

“Okay.” Max took Sophie’s hand and they walked to the front of the room. Sophie could hear wolf
whistles and men were staring at her as they walked. One guy even caressed her ass as she walked
past him and she glared at him. It didn’t seem to deter him as he just grinned at her and she shuddered.
They finally made it to the stage and Max went and sat on a leather couch.

“Hey you,” he shouted as she just stood on the stage awkwardly. “How much for a lap dance?”

Sophie looked around the stage for a second before she realized he was talking to her. “Twenty
bucks.” She walked up to him awkwardly and smiled.

“I’ll pay you forty.” A guy from the audience shouted.

“I’ll pay you one hundred.” Another man ran to the stage, she looked back and saw it was the creepy
guy who had touched her ass.

“Sorry guys, she’s mine,” Max hollered back and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“What sort of dance would you like, mister?” She spoke as loud as she could and Max grinned at her.

“Whatever dance you want to do.”

She turned around and started dancing on his lap, staring directly into the eyes of about thirty different
people whom were all gazing at her with lust or admiration. She tried not to look at any of them as
she danced. She could feel Max’s hard cock growing hard in his shorts and she grinned. Before she
knew it his hands were running up and down her stomach and her breasts before he started squeezing
her breasts.

“Turn towards me,” he whispered to her and she did as he asked. Before she knew it, he had ripped
her top off and he had bent his mouth to suck on her breasts.

“Suck on those bad boys,” the creepy man shouted from the front of the stage and Sophie ignored him.
She continued to grind on Max’s lap and felt her pussy soaking the thong she was wearing. Before
long, she felt Max slipping his fingers to her pussy and she felt his fingers against her clit as she
grinded into him. She closed her eyes as she moved on him, hoping to concentrate on the feelings of

pleasure she felt as opposed to the feelings of shame.

Max undid her G-string and Sophie stood up quickly and pulled Max’s shorts down. His cock stood
up proudly and Sophie got on her knees to take him in her mouth. She bobbed her head up and down
and completely forgot where she was until the guy at the stage called out and told her to spread her
legs a little bit. She flushed with embarrassment but didn’t stop as she gave Max a blowjob, she knew
that her naked ass was on display for all to see but she also knew that it was so dark that no one could
really see anything.

“Shit.” She heard Maxwell mutter and she looked up to see his face tense as he looked at someone
across the room. She stopped sucking his cock and looked up at him.

“Is everything okay, Max? she whispered in concern.

“Yeah.” He smiled at her and played with her hair. “Everything is fine.”

Sophie knew that something was up but she felt too out of control with lust to stop what she was
doing. She took him back into her mouth and continued sucking him off.

“Wow, ladies and gentleman, it looks like they are having fun, right?” Gina’s voice rang out across
the room. “Why don’t we spice it up a little bit?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s do it.”

“Woohoo.” Many voices rang out across the room as Gina walked up to the stage.

“So folks, this is the part of the night that we can call, ‘spice it up sexy’. We are going to blindfold the
two people on the stage and put them into whatever position we want. They won’t know what’s going
on. However, the one thing they will know is that they are having sex with each other.”

Sophie looked at Max’s face with a worried look and he rolled his eyes in anger. He knew that Gina
was doing this because she was mad but he didn’t want to say anything; especially not when he had
just seen Senator Frank Phillips enter the room. He wasn’t sure why he was at ‘The Games’ instead
of The X Club and he didn’t want to find out. He watched the man walk through the room with a sly
smile. As a man, he represented power, money and greed and he would destroy anyone that got in his
way.

Sophie turned around and looked at the man who was walking across the room. “Wow, he looks like
you,” she exclaimed and looked at Max. “That’s crazy.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I’ve heard that before.”

“Stand up you two and let me blindfold you.” Gina pulled them up and Sophie rubbed her shoulder as
it throbbed a little from Gina’s hard grip. Gina put a blindfold around her eyes and ears and Sophie
was in complete darkness and silence. She gripped Max’s hands and walked slowly as Gina led them
to another part of the stage. She stood there for about five minutes and then had to let go of Max’s
hand as he was placed somewhere. She then felt her body placed on what felt like a bed. She felt like
she had been placed at the end of a bed and she gulped. She had no idea what was going on and she
was half scared and half excited. She felt crazy to be feeling even more turned on than she had before.

Before she could start questioning herself, she felt Max behind her. He squeezed her ass and she sat
up until she was on all fours doggy style. Max’s cock rubbed her pussy lips for a few seconds and
then entered her. He slid in easily as she was completely wet and she shuddered as he pounded in and
out of her. She wondered how much the audience could see but realized that they would be unlikely to
see much if they were behind her. But then she realized that maybe they were in front of her, maybe
there were staring at her breasts as they bounced and he slammed in and out of her. She realized as
she felt an orgasm building up that she didn’t care. She groaned as he slowed his pace down and
started sliding in and out of her slowly.

She pushed her ass back into him wanting him to increase his pace again so that she could feel him in
her deep. But all that caused him to do was to move a hand in front of her and start rubbing her clit.
She screamed with pleasure as he increased the pressure on her clit as he slid in and out of her. She
felt like she was going to collapse from the impending orgasm. All of the feelings in her body were
made even more intense by the darkness. And then she felt his hands on her breasts squeezing her
nipples and she paused in shock. Something wasn’t adding up. She knew that something was wrong
with the scenario. There were two hands playing with her nipples and there was a hand rubbing her
clit. Max didn’t have three hands. She paused for a second in shock, unsure of what to do. She paid
attention to the motions of all of the hands and she realized that Max was the one grabbing her tits.
Someone else was rubbing her clit and they were getting rougher and rougher, with her rubbing her
harder and harder. She could barely concentrate on what was happening the feeling was so intense.
She knew she should stop what was going on but the feel of Max sliding in and out of her while
someone rubbed her clit and her nipples was too much. Sophie was caught up in the moment and the
pleasure was too much for her to handle.

Max started pounding her hard again and she screamed as she came hard covering his cock with her
juices. She felt his cock shudder as he came in her and she fell slightly forward. As she did so she
crushed the hand that was playing with her clit closer to her and she sat back up hoping he would
remove his finger now that she and Max were done. She knew it was a he because she had felt his
hairy arm against her stomach as she had fallen forward. But the man didn’t withdraw his hand. His
finger slipped from her clit and slid into her soaked pussy, he fingered her and used the wetness from
her pussy to slicken her clit. She groaned as she felt another climax coming up. She wanted to push
him away but she didn’t want the feeling to stop. The fingers quickened their pace and Sophie cried
out as she came once again as the stranger fingered her. This time when she fell forward the stranger
removed their hands and moments later, Gina was removing her blindfold and Max’s. She looked into
his eyes and he grinned at her as they blinked trying to get accustomed to the light again.

She looked around the room and saw that most people were too busy doing their own thing to bother
with them. She looked stealthily across the stage to see who else was up there with them but Gina
was the only one there. Max grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear, “That was pretty good.
Thanks.”

She smiled at him and kissed him back, feeling guilty as hell for what had happened. She could tell
that Max had no idea and she felt deeply ashamed of herself. She should have pulled away as soon as
she knew there was a third person but she had no idea who it was until she saw the man standing at
the front of the stage. It was the man who looked like Max; he was staring at her and licking his

fingers. She watched as he casually pulled his shirtsleeve down and grinned at her. She turned away
from him quickly and reddened. She saw that Max was also looking at the man.

“Who is that, Max?” she whispered.

“That’s Senator Frank Phillips,” he muttered. “And I think he’s Jacob’s real dad.”

Chapter 12

Ella

Ella walked to the Starbucks in excitement. She wanted to meet likestolisten badly. She really hoped
that he would be the one to push Joseph from her mind once and for all. She had spent the previous
night worried about his voicemail but had decided to ignore his message. She didn’t want to get
sucked back into that drama. Max could handle his business himself. She had wondered if she should
tell Max about the message but things had been awkward at the apartment when they had gotten back
home. She wasn’t sure what had gone on that night between them but she hoped that it had helped to
fix their relationship.

She frowned as she approached the Starbucks. She wanted to meet this guy with a positive attitude
and a sunny smile. She twirled around before she walked in and laughed at herself for being so
excited. She looked for a guy who fit the photo and prayed that she wasn’t going to meet some guy
who was balding or thirty years older than he had said.

“Goldengirl.” A man tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around to look into the warm brown
eyes of a smiling handsome man.

“Likestolisten?” She grinned at him. He was even better looking than his photo and she loved that he
was dressed smartly for the date.

“Yes.” He grinned back at her. “I’m so glad you aren’t a man.”

“Haha, does that happen often?” She smiled at him and he led her to the line.

“I’m not sure.” He laughed. “You’re the first person I’ve met.”

“You’re my first too.” She laughed. “You know what I mean.” She blushed at her awkward words
and looked at the board to decide what she wanted to get. “By the way, I’m Ella.” She held her hand
out to him.

“You mean I can’t call you Goldengirl?” He faked a frown.

“Well only if I can call you likestolisten.”

“Maybe you can call me Dr. likestolisten.”

“Ok, Doc.” She laughed and ordered a drink. “Can I have a grande mocha Frappuccino please, no
whipped cream?”

“Make that two, please.” Doc spoke behind her and handed the cashier some cash. “How did you
know that was my favorite drink?”

“No way.” She stared at him in amazement.

“Okay, I lied.” He grinned. “But it sounds like a great drink.”

“Oh hahaha.” She laughed.

“So tell me about you. I’m shocked that a beautiful girl like you doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh you don’t even want to know.” She rolled her eyes.

“Try me.” He touched her shoulder lightly. “I find that most people usually feel a lot better once they
talk about the things that bother them.”

“But this is our first date.”

“So?”

“I don’t want to scare you off.”

“I’ll only be scared if you tell me you killed someone.” He shirked back from her. “Did you kill
someone?”

“No.” She laughed and picked up her drink.

“So what’s your story, Ella Van Harkel?” He smiled at her as they took a seat and she smiled at him.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.” He ran his fingers through his short blond hair and she wondered if it would be crazy for her
to touch his hair. It looked so soft, and she wanted to see if it was as soft as it looked.

“I used to have long hair.” She began and stared at him seriously. “I cut all my hair off after my
married lover broke up with me and told me he wasn’t going to leave his wife for me.” She paused
and giggled self-consciously. “So there you have my life story.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s your life story but I am certainly intrigued.” He leaned in towards her. “You don’t
look like the sort of girl that would settle for a married guy.”

“What can I say?” She sighed. “He swept me off my feet.”

“How did he do that?” He picked up her hand softly and held it in his.

“He ate me out in a restaurant.” She grinned unabashed.

“He what?” Doc had the gall to look shocked.

“He took me to a restaurant one night, before I even had an interest in him. We were talking about
some business stuff, he uh, worked for my brother.”

“Okay.” Doc nodded and urged her to continue.

“He dropped his napkin and crawled under the table to get it, before I knew it, his face was in my
crotch and his tongue was in me.” She laughed. “What can I say? I like sex and that was the most
exciting sex I’d ever had at the time.”

“You’ve had more exciting sex than that?”

“You could say that.” She laughed.

“I’m intrigued.”

“I don’t think this is good first date conversation.” She sighed.

“It doesn’t scare me, Ella. In fact, it makes me think that we could have a lot of fun together.”

“I’m not looking for fun.” She sighed. She had ruined it, now he would think she was all about sex.
He wouldn’t want a proper relationship with her.

“Fun is the best part of a good relationship, Ella.” He looked at her seriously. “Without fun, there is
no relationship. Sex is a healthy part of a relationship.” He moved his hand from hers and placed it on
her leg. “A very healthy part.” He rubbed her leg up and down and grinned as she gasped. “I want my
woman to enjoy all aspects of our relationship.”

“What do you do, Doc?” She leaned towards him and moved his hand up her leg and underneath her
skirt. He gasped as she placed his hand on her crotch. “I have no problem with my sexuality, by the
way.” She grinned at him. “Just in case you wondered.”

“I can see that.” His fingers rubbed her crotch slowly, waiting to see how she would react. She
looked around the room casually to make sure that no one was looking at them and then opened her
legs wider to give him easier access. He slipped a finger underneath her panties and started rubbing
her clit.

“So, ah, what do you do?” Ella tried not to squirm in the seat as he played with her pussy. She wasn’t
quite sure she knew what she was doing but she did know that she thought he was attractive and she
was ready to get over Joseph. She was not going to let him dictate her moods. The best and quickest
way to get over him would be to sleep with someone else.

“I’m a doctor.” He grinned as he slipped a finger inside of her easily. She was already soaking wet
and he couldn’t believe how easy it had been for him to get this far with her. He guessed it ran in the
family.

“No way.” She laughed and squeezed her legs together so that the feeling of his fingers inside her was
more intense. “You’re really a doctor?”

“Yes.”

“So what’s your name?”

“Most people call me Dr. Spencer.”

“Dr. Spencer, I like that.” She grinned. “I guess you do a lot of listening in your work as a doctor?”

“You could say that.” He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “What do you say we get out of
here?”

“Yeah?” She cocked her head. “Where do you want to go?”

“How about the park?”

“I love the park.”

“So do I.” He withdrew his fingers and looked around him before putting one on his mouth. “Hmm,
you taste better than the drink.”

“I do?” She smiled at him sexily.

“See for yourself.” He pushed one of his fingers into her mouth and Ella, taken by surprise, sucked
her own juices off his finger. It was the first time that she had tasted herself like that and she

wondered at the taste.

“What do you think?” He grinned.

“I was wondering if you taste as good as me?” She grinned and stood up, flattening her skirt as she
walked towards the door.

“Maybe you’ll find out.”

“In the park?” She looked at him in surprise.

“Is there a better place?” He laughed and grabbed her hand and they walked out of the Starbucks. He
quickly took out his phone and sent a text message: Contact has been made with the target.
Information should be forthcoming.

Ella and Dr. Spencer walked to the park briskly, both of them excited for what was to come. Ella
heard her phone ringing and saw Joseph’s name and pressed ignore. She put the phone back in her
purse and grabbed Doc’s butt.

“Hey.” He pulled her towards him and slapped her ass hard.

“Sorry,” she smiled. “I couldn’t resist.”

“Hey I don’t mind as long as you don’t mind receiving as well.”

“I love receiving.” She grinned.

“So tell me more about your ex-lover and your brother,” he said casually. “They work for the same
company?”

“You could say that?” She smiled sweetly at him. She didn’t want to tell him that she was a
billionaire, or at least an heiress. Men started acting weird when they found that out about her.

“I hope your boyfriend wasn’t your brothers boss?”

“No.” She smiled.

“That’s good.” He paused. “So what do they do?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” She tried to change the subject. “I don’t really ask about business stuff.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Maybe one day, we can visit the office that they worked at.”

“Why?” She frowned looking at him curiously.

“Oh you know, so you can purge Joseph from your mind.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She bit her lip as they walked into Central Park. She was starting to feel a little
uneasy. Something about their conversation had bothered her and she wasn’t quite sure what it was
that was making her feel so odd.

“Hey don’t worry. I have protection.” He grinned at her.

“Huh?” She looked at him sideways.

“Huh? What do you mean, huh?” He pulled her towards him and pulled her top up quickly and popped
her right breast out of her bra before sucking on it hard. Ella groaned as he bit hard on her nipple and
grabbed his hair before pushing him away and pulling her top down.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She looked around and saw a couple staring at them in shock.

“I just wanted to spice it up.” He pulled out a condom packet from his pocket. “This is the protection
I was talking about.”

“Oh.” She sighed. She was confused. This date wasn’t going as she had planned. Things were going a
lot quicker than she had wanted but maybe it was for the best. She tried to talk herself out of her
confused state of mind. She told herself that she was starting to feel uncomfortable because Joseph
had just called her.

“Have I told you how hot you are?” He rubbed her back and smiled at her gently, his brown eyes
warm and kind and Ella felt her heart melt. He really was a hottie.

“You can never tell a girl she’s hot too many times.” She smiled and ran as he slapped her on the ass
again. He chased her and they fell to the ground as he caught up with her. She was laughing as he
tickled her and it wasn’t until she felt him on top of her that she realized they were in a more remote
part of the park. She felt his lips on hers and she closed her eyes and kissed him back. He wasn’t the
most passionate kisser that she had ever had but he wasn’t bad. She opened her legs as he started
grinding his hard cock into her and he quickly pulled her top up again to suck on her breasts.

“You have beautiful tits.” He grinned up at her and nibbled on her nipples. She yelped as his teeth bit
down on her and he whispered a quick sorry. She felt his hands go up under her skirt and he quickly
pulled her panties down and stuffed them into his pocket. She looked down at him as he pulled her
skirt up and moments later she felt his tongue licking her pussy. She closed her eyes and spread her
legs wider, imagining that it was Joseph in-between her legs. She screamed as Doc bit down on her
clit and she looked down at him.

“What the fuck. That hurt,” she growled at him and he grinned up at her.

“Keep your eyes open. I want you to watch me as I eat you out.” And with that, he bent back down to
her pussy and lifted her ass up so that his face was submerged between her legs. She groaned as she
felt his breath on her and as he pushed his tongue into her, she found herself squirming in the grass and
trying to hold in a scream. He certainly knew his way around the female anatomy and she felt herself
shuddering within minutes as she came hard on his face. He licked up her juices and moved back up
to kiss her.

He then rolled over and pulled his pants down and pulled his cock out. “Get on top of me.”

“Wait what?” She looked at him dazed.

“Ride me.” He pulled her on top of him.

“What, here?” She looked around and contemplated telling him no.

“No one’s here.” He grinned. “It’ll be fine.”

“Fine.” She grinned at him and sat on his cock. It slid into her pussy easily and she moved her hips

back and forth on him.

“Take your top off,” he growled and pulled her top off. And then he ripped her bra off so that she was
completely topless. “Bend down so I can suck your tits,” he ordered her and she leaned forward. He
took her left nipple in his mouth and sucked on it as she bounced up and down on his cock. She
groaned as she felt him sliding in and out of her. His cock wasn’t the longest she’d ever had but it was
really wide and she felt like it consumed her whole pussy.

“Fuck, I’m going to come.” He pushed her off him and rolled her on her back while slipping his cock
out and coming all over her breasts. He grunted as he came and she felt his warm cum spurt all over
her breasts. “Sorry,” he groaned as he looked down at her with a dazed look. “You forgot to put the
condom on before you started riding me.”

“Oh shit,” she groaned and rubbed her forehead. She was mad at herself and felt herself growing
cold, as she lay there in the grass half-naked with a man she barely knew.

“It’s okay. I’ll make up for it now.” He grinned at her and before she knew it, he was rubbing his
already semi-hard cock against her pussy lips again. She squirmed on the ground, thinking that it might
be smart for her to just leave right now but as he rubbed his cock up and down her clit, she couldn’t
ignore her feelings of lust and instead of getting up to leave, she spread her legs wider again. She felt
the tip of his cock slipping in and out of her pussy as he rubbed himself against her and she moaned at
the feel of him. She saw him pull the condom out of the wrapper and then felt him enter her hard. She
screamed out as he fucked her hard, his cock sliding in and out her with such force that his balls
slapped against her pussy walls. He grunted as he fucked her and their moans must have been heard
all around the park. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and rubbed her clit as he slammed into her.
This time they both came together and she grinned as he collapsed on the ground next to her.

“That was hot, right?” He kissed her on the lips as she lay there panting.

“That’s one word for it.” She smiled and reached over to touch his hair. She laughed when she felt it,
it was spiky and sharp and not as soft as she had thought it was going to be at all.

He sat up and put his cock away and zipped up his pants before handing her her shirt. “You should put
this back on.”

“Thanks.” She tried to ignore the feelings of panic in her as he stood up and reached down to pull her
up. “So what are you going to do tonight?” she asked him as they walked back to the path.

“Maybe catch up on work?” He smiled at her sweetly. “But that reminds me. I have something to do.
Can I call you later?”

“Uh sure.” Ella plastered a fake smile on her face. But inside she felt awful. She’d been used again.
She couldn’t believe that she had just allowed this man to fuck her.

“Can I get your number?” He grinned and handed her his phone to enter it.

“Sure.” She entered her number into his phone, unsure if he would ever really call her and as she was
about to save it, she saw a text message come in that surprised her. It read: You’ve got 2 weeks to get
the info I need. I need something on Maxwell stat. It was from someone named Frank Phillips. She
handed Doc his phone back with a tight smile and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek before she

walked away.

It wasn’t until she got home and opened her door that she figured out why she had felt uneasy. He had
called her Ella Van Harkel but she had only told him her first name. And he had mentioned Joseph’s
name but she had only called him her ex. She felt a tight knot in her stomach and ran to the bathroom
and threw up. She wasn’t sure what was going on but all of a sudden she felt a lot worse than she had
when Joseph had dumped her.

Chapter 13

Sophie

Sophie couldn’t get rid of the guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was so ashamed of herself.
She didn’t know how she could face Max. She had wondered if he had known what had happened but
when he didn’t mention anything on the way home or in the morning she realized that he had no clue.
She didn’t know if she should tell him. It wasn’t like she had cheated on him. She hadn’t slept with
someone else. But she had let someone else finger her while knowing it wasn’t Max. How could she
explain to him that the excitement of the evening and the overwhelming lust had made it hard for her to
push the hand away? She knew she couldn’t tell him.

“I can’t believe that Senator Frank Phillips was there last night.” Max walked into the kitchen and
interrupted her thoughts.

“Oh?” Sophie could feel her face flushing at the picture of the man’s face. He had looked at her so
smugly the entire evening. She had felt dirty and ashamed of herself.

“He never goes to clubs where he can be seen by people he doesn’t trust,” Max muttered. “Something
must be going on.”

“Why do you think he was there?” Sophie looked at him puzzled.

“I think he was there because of me.” Max looked at her thoughtfully. “Maybe Benny tipped him off
that we were coming.”

“Do you think he would do that?”

“If he was paid well.” He looked at Sophie carefully. “He must know about Jacob. Maybe he’s
worried.”

“Why would he be worried?” Sophie bit her lip.

“He’s married. His wife’s father has a lot of money. He’s the one that got Frank into the senate. He
has a lot to lose if his wife finds out he’s been unfaithful.”

“She doesn’t know he cheats?” She looked at him incredulously.

“Oh she knows he cheats.” He laughed bitterly. “But she wouldn’t put up with a baby by another
woman.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a lot he would do to keep that secret.”

“Maybe you’re overthinking things.” Sophie swallowed, trying to forget the feel of the senator’s
fingers on her clit, rough and quick.

“No I don’t think I am.” He sighed. “I’m going to need to talk to Alexis.”

“Why?” she cried out upset. “It’s not our fault.”

“Alexis was my girl at the club, I have the baby. I’m the one that can make things difficult for Frank.”

“So wouldn’t he just ask you nicely to keep it quiet?”

“That’s not how he works.” Max sighed. “He’ll want something over me.”

“Oh.” Sophie felt faint.

“Are you okay, my love?” Max looked at her in concern. “Don’t worry. He can’t harm me. All my
business dealings are above board.”

“So then everything is fine then?” Sophie asked hopefully and looked at Max who was thinking
carefully.

“I don’t know.” Max stared at her intently. “Frank plays dirty. If business is fine, he’ll come after my
family next.”

“Oh no.” Sophie gulped and clutched the table next to her. “What would he do?”

“I don’t know.” Max frowned. “But we can’t go back to ‘The Games’ I’m afraid.”

“That’s okay.” She squeezed his hand. “I don’t need to go back.”

“It wasn’t too bad, was it? When Gina blindfolded you?”

“No, it wasn’t too bad.” She smiled at him briefly.

“I didn’t intend for that to happen you know.” He kissed her cheek. “I don’t need those clubs; I hope
you know that, Sophie. I just want you.”

“I know.” She stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry for making you take me.”

“It’s okay. You wanted to know what its like and now you do.” He stroked her hair and hugged her.
“That’s not a good place for a princess like you. I don’t want to drag you to such depraved places
anymore.”

“I’m not going to break, Max. I enjoyed myself.” She spoke softly.

“I’m glad.” He laughed. “And thank God, we got out without Gina trying to pull any crazy stunts.

“Yes. That was good.” She smiled weakly and turned around. “I think I’m going to go walk to Whole
Foods now. Do you want anything?”

“Ooh maybe get some dumplings.” He grinned. “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” Sophie went and got her purse. “I’ll be back soon.” And with that, Sophie hurried
out of the door. She couldn’t stand to be around Max with her guilty feelings. She needed to talk to
someone. She thought about calling Ella but wasn’t sure she would know how to tell her friend what
had happened. She didn’t think Ella would judge her but she knew that her friend would look at her
differently.

She decided to go and sit in the park for a bit. Let the air clear her head. She smiled as she walked to
her usual bench and saw Nick there. Part of her had hoped that she would see him again. She had
resolved that there was nothing wrong having a friend who was a male, she loved Max and was never
going to cheat on him.

“Hi Nick.” She smiled widely at him as she approached the bench. He looked up surprised to see her.

“Hi Sophie.” He tucked his phone in his pocket and stood up and hugged her. “It’s nice to see you.”

“You too.” She looked around. “Are you here by yourself?”

“Yes.” He smiled briefly. “Well, I was here with someone but they had to go home.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, a first date that didn’t go so well.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“So, how are you and your fiancé?” He looked at her kindly, changing the subject.

“Good.” She smiled sweetly at him, studying his face. He looked anxious and she felt like at this time
he was the one who needed a friend. “Are you okay Nick, you look preoccupied.”

“I’m fine.” He rubbed his temple. “It’s been a long day and my boss is asking demands of me that I’m
not sure I can complete in time.”

“Oh, can you tell him that?” she inquired. “He’ll surely understand?”

“No.” He laughed. “He doesn’t want to hear any excuses.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” She frowned and rubbed his shoulder.

“It’s okay.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad to see your lovely face. You’ve brightened my day.”

“Tell me about your date.” She leaned into him. “What happened?”

He sighed and then grinned at her. “You women really love the details, huh?”

“Duh.” She grinned at him. “Let’s hear it.”

“She just wasn’t my type really?”

“Oh?”

“She was beautiful.” He paused. “But I’d prefer a girl like you.”

Sophie made a face, “What do you mean by that—ugly?” She laughed.

“No.” He groaned. “I mean, a downhome, genuine normal pretty girl.” He picked up her hand. “With
normal nails, normal clothes, normal hair. I want a good girl that doesn’t need all the extras.”

“I certainly don’t need all the extras,” she laughed.

“I bet. What does your fiancé do?” He looked at her. “Let me guess? He’s a teacher?”

“How’d you know?” Sophie lied. She didn’t want to disappoint Nick by letting him know she was
engaged to one of the richest men in New York.

“Because you are the type of woman who appreciates a good hardworking man. I bet you wouldn’t
have sex in the park on a first date either.”

“No I wouldn’t.” She paused and stared at him. “No way, you did not have sex.”

“No, no. Of course not.” He laughed and looked away. “But you know there are some women who

would.”

“I guess.” She looked at his side-profile and continued. “Though you can’t judge a woman for that,
there was a man who did it with her. If she’s a slut, so is he.”

“Oh he’s a slut alright.” He laughed and then turned towards her. “But maybe he doesn’t want to be
anymore.”

“Then he doesn’t have to be,” she said softly.

“So you and your fiancé are good?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a pity.” He laughed. “I’d like to find a girl like you, Sophie.”

“You will.” She laughed uncomfortably. “Plus, I’m not that great.”

“Yeah?” He looked at her curiously. “What’s the worst thing you’ve done? Burnt some cookies?”

“Something like that.” She laughed lightly. She was too ashamed to voice out her dirty deed. Actually
no Nick, I let another man play with my pussy while my fiancé fucked me at a sex club. How could
she tell him that? How could she tell anyone that?

“Are you okay, Sophie?” He looked at her carefully. “Your face seems very white.”

“That must mean I need to go tanning soon.” She stood up and laughed. “But I better be going. I need
to go to Whole Foods and get back home before it gets too dark.”

“Let me walk you to the store.” He stood up and latched his arm through hers. “I enjoyed our hot
chocolate the other evening.”

“Yes. That was fun.” She smiled at him and as she gazed into his warm brown eyes she felt a sense of
calm. “Let me give you my number. Call me if you ever want to talk or hang out.”

“Are you sure?” He looked at her in surprise. “I didn’t think you wanted to be friends?”

“I’d love to be friends, Nick. I just need to let my fiancé know that I have a new friend who’s a man.
Maybe introduce you two so that you guys can be friends as well.”

“If you think that would work.” He smiled at her warmly. “And if you think he won’t mind that I have
a crush on his fiancée.”

“Oh Nick.” She giggled and wrote down her number on a piece of paper. “Here you go.”

“I’ll look after this piece of paper very carefully.” He grinned. “Thank you for trusting me, Sophie.”

“Not a problem, Nick.” She beamed at him. “I think we’re going to be good friends.”

“Me too.” He smiled at her.

“Oh and Nick.” She poked his arm. “I have a best friend that I think you will really like. If you’re
lucky I will introduce you.”

“If she’s anything like you then I will be a very happy man.” He smiled at her and gave her a hug.
“I’m so glad there are women like you in the city, Sophie,” he whispered into her ear.

“Thank you, Nick.” She held him close and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his warm body close
to hers. “I’ll see you later.” She pulled away from him and walked away.

“Bye, Sophie.” Nick called out to her and turned around with a smile on his face. He walked back to
the park and debated between going on a run and going back to the office. He hadn’t been lying when
he had said his boss had a hard task for him. The biggest problem was he didn’t know how far he was
willing to go to ensure that his boss got what he wanted. He already felt bad for how his date had
turned out today. He hadn’t told Sophie the complete truth, he had thought the girl was attractive, nice
even and she seemed receptive to his kinkier ways. She hadn’t balked when he slapped her. But she
was everything he didn’t want in a woman: rich, spoiled, loose. He couldn’t afford to get emotionally
connected to her. He’d fuck her again if he had to but once he got the information he needed, he’d
disappear. He didn’t want people like her in his life. He wanted a Sophie. He wondered if her fiancé
knew how lucky he was. He wondered if he told Sophie that he made a lot more money than a teacher,
if she would leave her fiancé for him. He knew the answer as he walked back through the park. And
that was why he wanted her. She seemed like a unique innocent angel and that is why he was willing
to just be her friend. Maybe she would bring him the internal peace he needed.

***

Sophie smiled as she crossed the street. She was happy that she had seen Nick. He had reinforced in
her that she was a good girl, she knew that but she had slipped up. She couldn’t allow what had
happened to her to weigh her down. It wouldn’t be fair to her or to the baby. She had an appointment
with the doctor the next day and she was praying that the baby was okay. She also wanted to know the
gender of the child, she was secretly hoping for a girl, so that Jacob wouldn’t have to compete with
another boy for his father’s love. Though she was beginning to doubt that Max was Jacob’s dad, not
after seeing the senator. She was thinking so hard that she heard Alexis’s voice before she saw her.

“Please, let me come and see you.” She was begging into a phone. Sophie stopped and stood next to a
pole so that she could listen without being obvious.

“I need to see you. I can make trouble for you.” Alexis’s voice turned spiteful. “Tomorrow? I can do
tomorrow.” Her voice lit up. “I love you.”

Sophie felt her heart racing, was Max going to meet her the next day?

“You know you’ve always been the one for me. Leave her.” Alexis’s voice was urgent. “Leave her.
You’ll see, it will be okay. We’ll have each other.” Alexis stopped talking for a moment and laughed.
“Yes. I know.” She giggled. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow at the same place as last time. I love you.”
Alexis hung up and Sophie peeked behind her to see Alexis walking down the street with a huge smile
on her face. Sophie paled and grabbed her phone to call Maxwell but he didn’t answer. She wasn’t
sure what to do. All of her resolve and confidence came crashing down. Max was going to meet
Alexis at their regular place? Had they met there recently? Was he cheating on her? She felt queasy
and walked quickly to a park bench to sit down. She put her head in her lap and sobbed, this was her
payback for letting another man do things to her. She knew it. She was cursed to have an unhappy life.
She grabbed her phone as she heard a beep and read the text message eagerly. It was nice seeing you

again and finally getting your number, Sophie. I hope to see you soon. Xoxo Nicholas. She stared at
the message and wondered if this wasn’t a sign as well. Maybe she was meant to end up with Nick.
Her heart’s desire was Max but maybe she wasn’t going to be one of those lucky people who got their
true loves.

Chapter 14

Max

Max studied little Jacob’s face and his heart ached for the baby whose short life had already caused
so much turmoil. He was pretty certain that the baby was Frank’s. Ever since their Harvard days,
Frank had been jealous of him and had wanted whatever he had. When he and Alexis had started
frequenting The X Club, Frank had wooed Alexis and done everything to make sure that he was her
swap partner of choice. He had thought he had something over on Max, that he was hurting him. But
he hadn’t counted on the fact that Max didn’t care about Alexis, let alone love her. In fact, he had
rarely reached orgasm with Alexis, and he always used protection with her. In fact Sophie was the
only woman that he had never used protection with. His beautiful and sweet Sophie. He thought back
to the previous evening. It had been crazy, though he had to admit that it had been exhilarating to share
that moment with Sophie. Not that he needed to do it again.

He heard his phone ringing and he saw it was Ella. He answered the phone with trepidation. She
rarely called him and he didn’t think that she was about to start with the courtesy calls. “Everything
okay, Ella?”

“No,” she sobbed into the phone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously. “It’s not Joseph again, is it?”

“I don’t know,” she cried. “I had a date today, it’s a long story but basically I think some guy named
Frank Phillips is trying to harm you, Max.”

“Did you say Frank Phillips?” He sat down with a sigh.

“Yes.” She hiccupped. “Do you know him?”

“He’s an old acquaintance from Harvard. He’s a senator in Delaware now.”

“Oh, does he want to harm you, Max?”

“Maybe.” He sighed. “I think he wants to make sure certain information doesn’t get out.”

“What information?”

“That he’s Jacob’s dad.”

“What?” Ella exclaimed.

“It’s a long story.” Max sighed. “Hey, can you come over and look after Jacob. There’s something I
need to do.”

“Yes.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll be over in fifteen minutes.”

“Ella?”

“Yes?”

“Did this man, your date, do anything to hurt you?”

“No.” She laughed uncontrollably. “He didn’t.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it. I was a fool. I will likely never hear from him again.
I just made a mistake.”

“I’m sorry, Ella. You deserve better than these schmucks.”

“Well, we all can’t be as lucky as Sophie, dear brother.”

“Oh Ella, I’m not the best catch in the world.” Max laughed. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung
up the phone and sent a quick text. I need to see you. I’ll be at your office in thirty minutes. He went
to the bathroom and brushed his teeth while he waited for Ella. He thought about leaving Sophie a
note but decided against it, he didn’t want her to worry. She and the baby had to be protected, at all
costs.

***

Max ran out of the building as soon as Ella arrived. She had looked awful but he didn’t have time for
pleasantries. He needed to sort a couple of things out. As he walked he called Alexis.

“Why hello there.” She sounded happy to hear from him.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

“Well you know I’m always available.” She smirked.

“I need to know whose name is on the birth certificate.”

“Yours of course,” she scoffed.

“I know he’s not mine, Alexis.” His voice was short and she was silent. “I’ll keep him though. I just
need to make sure that legally he is mine. I want you to sign away all rights.”

“What about me?” Her tone was sharp.

“You’ll be taken care of.”

“We can take care of it tomorrow.” Her voice was light.

“That sounds like a plan.” He was happy that she was being so accommodating.

“Just bring the papers.”

“Thank you, Alexis.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She sighed. “You might as well know that—”

“That what?”

“Look I have to go,” she exclaimed excitedly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. At our place.”

“Okay.” He hung up as he reached the building and checked in at the front desk. “I’m here to see Dr.

Spencer.”

“He’s expecting you, Mr. Van Harkel. You can go right up.” The receptionist smiled at him and he
walked briskly to the elevator.

“Max.” Dr. Spencer stood up. “It’s good to see you. Is everything okay?”

“No.” He paused. “It’s not okay.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” Max paced the room. “I think someone is trying to come after me.”

“Oh?” Dr. Spencer swallowed. “Who?”

“That’s not important.” Max walked over to the window. “I just don’t want to do something I’ll
regret.”

“Like?”

“I don’t know—beating someone up, having them killed.”

“Oh.” Dr. Spencer felt his face going white. “We don’t want you to do that, do we?”

Max turned around and faced him. “I’m having a baby. I want to be there for my child and my wife. I
want to get married.”

“So you can do that.” Dr. Spencer nodded. “I know what it’s like to love someone with all your
heart.” He paused. “I never thought I’d be one to admit it but I do believe in love at first sight now,
Max. And with love comes a virtue of emotions, Max. You can be a better man. You can be there for
your wife and child.”

“Not if I kill someone!” Max shouted.

“Do you need some meds, Max?”

“No.” Max sighed. “I’m fine. I’m just angry. Really angry. And I needed to talk to someone before S.
came home.”

“Who’s looking after the baby?” Dr. Spencer questioned.

“My sister.”

“Oh.” Dr. Spencer looked at him furtively. “And how is she?”

“She’s fine,” Max said dismissively. “Just dealing with her jerk of an ex-boyfriend.”

“The one that worked for you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh okay.” Dr. Spencer felt his breathing regulate again.

“I wish he would just leave well alone.”

“Is there anything that he might have over you?” Dr. Spencer asked eagerly and Max looked at him
suspiciously.

“What?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he found something out about your company?”

“There is nothing to find out.” Max looked at him with narrowed eyes. “That’s a weird question to
ask.”

“I mean, I was just wondering why he is trying to come after you.” The doctor spoke calmly.

“He’s not the one I think is coming after me.” Max stood up. “I have to go now.”

“Who do you think…” Dr. Spencer’s voice trailed off as Max walked out of the door. He sighed and
looked down at his phone. There was a new message: Max has a new girl. One he loves. Finds out
her name and everything you can about her. I think she’s the best in which to hurt him. Frank
Phillips.

Dr. Spencer looked at the message and leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. This was all
getting to be too much. He didn’t want to do the senator’s dirty work anymore. He knew that he was
compromising his ethics but ever since that night when the senator had videotaped him at The X Club
he had been blackmailing him to do his bidding. He didn’t want to do it but he couldn’t afford for that
video to come out. It would ruin his career.

He picked up his phone and texted Ella. “Hey you. Great meeting you. I was wondering if you were
interested in grabbing some late night pancakes.”

She texted him back within minutes. “Would love to. I’ll meet you at the corner of Amsterdam and
72

nd

.”

He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket while staring at the torn off piece of paper on his desk.
He would rather be meeting a different woman that evening but duty called.

***

Max made it home before Sophie did. He was surprised to see that Ella was in a good mood when he
got in. “What happened to you?”

“Oh I’m just happy to look after my nephew.” She grinned. “And I have a date tonight, so I need to go
home and change.”

“Not with Joseph?” He frowned.

“No big brother.” She grinned. “A different friend.” She left it at that. She didn’t want to tell him that
it was the same guy that had the weird text message on his phone. She was fed up of the stress and
worry; she just wanted to have some fun. Spencer had seemed cool and he was hot. And at least she
didn’t feel used. She wanted to just have some fun as well. What would it hurt? She had told Max
everything she knew about the message from Frank Phillips, it seemed he was the one with the
vendetta against Max, not Spencer. She leaned over and kissed Max on the cheek. “Tell Sophie to call
me tomorrow.” And then she left the apartment. Within minutes of her leaving, Sophie made it home
with a glum look on her face.

“Sophie.” Max ran up to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She sighed. “Can I ask you one question?”

“Of course.”

“You can’t lie.”

“I promise. I won’t lie.” He looked at her worried. “What is it?”

“Did you speak to Alexis today?”

His face paled and he grabbed her hand. “Yes, but…”

“Do you have plans to meet her tomorrow?”

“Yes,” he muttered. “How did you know this? Did she call you?”

“No.” Sophie looked at him with unshed tears. “I can’t believe you would do this to me, Max.”

“What are you talking about?” he shouted angrily. “This is for us, Sophie.”

“She loves you, Max!” Sophie screamed. “I heard her. She loves you.”

“She doesn’t know what love is Sophie.”

“You’re going to go and fuck her, aren’t you?”

“Sophie, what are you talking about?” He sighed. “Why do you always assume the worst? Why can’t
you trust me?”

“Why can’t you be a decent man?” She broke down. “Why can’t you just be a normal, loving, loyal
man?”

“What does that mean, Sophie?” He looked at her with anguished eyes.

“I just want a normal relationship. I met a guy, his name is Nicholas. And he likes me, and he’s
normal and we’re friends.” The words ran out of her mouth and Sophie took an evil delight at the hurt
that spread across Max’s face. “Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t be better with someone like Nick?
Who would love me for who I am.”

“I love you for who you are, Sophie.” Max’s voice cracked as he stared at the love of his life. “I love
you and Winter and—”

“Who’s Winter?” Sophie frowned.

“Our baby.” He smiled at her sadly. “I thought we could call her Winter, because we met and fell in
love in Winterside.”

“Oh Max.” Tears sprang to Sophie’s eyes.

“I love you, Sophie. Please don’t doubt that.”

“How do you know we’re going to have a girl?”

“I just know.” He placed his hand across her stomach. “And she’s going to look as beautiful as you.
And I will love her with all of my heart.”

“Why are you going to meet Alexis tomorrow, Max?” Sophie sobbed.

“I’m going to ask her to sign over her rights to Jacob, so he can be legally ours.” He stared into her
eyes. “That’s all, Sophie. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

“I don’t think she knows that.” Sophie sighed and looked away from him.

“I don’t make you happy, do I, Sophie?” He looked at her in sorrow.

“Most days you do.” She bit her lip. “I love you, Max.”

“Sometimes love isn’t enough.” He looked at her with a detached look in his eyes. “Sometimes love
can’t overcome all obstacles.”

“What are we going to do, Max?” Sophie clung on to him in anguish.

“I don’t know, Soph.” He held her tightly. “I love you more than life itself but sometimes loving
someone is knowing when to let them go.”

“You can’t leave me, Max.” She sobbed.

He paused for a moment and thought for a second as inspiration hit him. “I don’t know if I can do this
anymore, Sophie.” He pulled away from her, his heart breaking at what he was about to do. “I need
time to think.”

“What—no!” She reached out to him and he walked quickly to the door.

“I have to go and think, Sophie.” He left the apartment and ran down the emergency stairs. He didn’t
want her coming after him in the elevator. He stopped after a couple of flights and broke down in
sobs, his body shuddering at the emotion he was letting out. He had to let Sophie go, it was the only
way. This was his mess and he had to fix it. He couldn’t allow it to consume and ruin her life as well.
And maybe one day she would be able to forgive him. As he walked out of the building for the last
time, he prayed to God that she would be able to forgive him for walking out on her. He pulled out his
phone and threw it into a trash basket. He didn’t want anyone being able to track him via GPS. He
was making a clean break. It was what he had to do.

Chapter 15

Ella

She saw him walking towards her and her heart skipped a beat. He was more handsome than she had
remembered. She wanted to ask him how he knew so much about her and if he wanted to hurt her
brother but she didn’t think that would be the best approach.

“Hi, Goldengirl.” He smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi there, Doctor Spencer.” She grinned. “Or should I call you likestolisten?”

“Listening is not what I want to do right now?” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, no dinner first?” She grinned at him, only half joking.

“Are you hungry?” He looked at her pointedly. She was wearing a short black dress, and it was
obvious that she had no underwear on, her nipples were pointing through the top and he could see no
underwear line. Not even for a thong.

“It would have been nice if you would have asked at least.” She sighed.

“Okay sorry, would you like to eat?”

“That’s okay.”

“Come.” He pulled her down a side street and into an alley by some restaurants.

“What are we doing here?” She frowned. It was a pretty shady side street and she hoped that he
wasn’t about to rob her.

“Bend over.” He pushed her forward so that she was resting on a recycling bin.

“Eww,” she groaned as she smelled the contents of the bin that had been obviously been used for
more than recycling.

“Sshh.” He grunted and she felt him lift up her dress quickly and then push his already hard dick into
her pussy.

“Ooh,” she groaned. She wasn’t sure why, but her pussy was wet and accepted him into her easily.
He reached forward and grabbed her breasts as he fucked her and she slammed her ass back into his
cock as he moved. She felt an orgasm building and was just seconds from coming when he withdrew
from her and groaned, spurting his cum all over her dress. She stood up horrified and with a heavy
pussy as he zipped his pants back up and pulled her dress down. “That’s it?” She stared at him with
an angry look.

“I got mine.” He grinned. “Come, let’s eat.”

“What the fuck?” She pushed him. “What about me, asshole?”

“Do you have to come every time?” He looked at her with disgust. “Didn’t you know that sluts get
what they get? You can’t come every time.”

Ella stared at him in shock. “Tell me one thing, Dr. Spencer, what exactly do you know about me and
my brother, Max?”

He looked at her with wide eyes. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I saw your text earlier from Frank.”

“That’s how Max knew.” He slammed his fist against the wall. “Shit.”

“How Max knew what?” She looked at him in worry. “How do you know Max?” She had thought he
was just some third-party. She hadn’t thought that he had any real connection to him. “Do you work
for the company?’

“No.” He laughed bitterly.

“Tell me.” She leaned in towards him. “Or I’ll just have him tell me.”

“I’m his shrink.” He sighed.

“His shrink.” Ella’s face went white. “Oh my God.”

“Your brother is one fucked up mother fucker.” He laughed bitterly.

“Why are you trying to ruin him?”

“I couldn’t give two shits about your brother, Ella.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s business.”

“You work for Frank Phillips?”

“Something like that.” He sighed. “I’m not too happy about it, trust me.”

“So what was this between us?” She pointed at them. “Was I part of the plan?”

“Not really.” He looked at her dismissively. “You gave it up. I took it. Nothing more to it. I just
wanted some information from you.”

“I see.” Ella tried to keep her tone even. “So I was just a plaything.”

“No offense, Ella.” He looked at her pointedly. “But I like my girls a little sweeter and less slutty.”

“How dare you?” She slapped him across the face and he pushed her back against the wall.

“How dare I?” He slipped his hand up under her dress and ran his fingers along her pussy lips that
were dripping wet. He leaned in and whispered in her ear as he pushed two fingers inside of her,
“Here we are, in a dark alleyway, I’ve just called you a slut, yet you are still allowing me to finger
fuck you.” He felt her pussy lips shudder around his fingers as she started to come. “And you are
enjoying it.” He stared into her wide eyes as he slowly withdrew his fingers and wiped the moisture
off on her dress. “You should be proud of yourself, Ella, you have everything to live for, you’re
beautiful, rich and going home with my sperm and your pussy juices all over your trashy dress.”

Ella pushed him off her and shouted at him, “You’re an asshole.”

“I know.” He laughed bitterly. “That’s what got me into this mess.”

“Why would you do this to me?” she cried out in anguish.

“It was one of your kind that got me in this position,” he shouted. “I just wanted some fun. She told me
she was eighteen. The slut. She is the one who took me to the club. And they filmed it. And she was
fifteen. A fifteen year old rich slut ruined my life.”

“I don’t understand.” Ella frowned. “What club? Why would someone film it?”

“Because they knew I was Max’s shrink.” He laughed bitterly. “They set me up so they could use
me.”

“Frank Phillips?”

“Yes. Senator Frank Phillips.”

“I’m sorry.”

He looked at her carefully then and saw the real concern and hurt in her eyes and he sighed. “No. I’m
sorry. I was a good man once. I want to be a good man again.”

She stared at him with unshed tears. “Please don’t hurt my brother.”

“I don’t know what the senator is going to do.” He sighed. “I don’t want any part of it. I met someone
recently. She makes me want to be a better person.” He laughed hysterically. “And I barely know her.
And she’s engaged.”

“I guess it was true love.” Ella offered him a half smile.

“Yes. I think she’s the one.” He sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever win her heart though.”

“You can always try.” Ella sighed. “Love isn’t easy.”

“No. It’s not.” He looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Goldengirl.”

“It’s okay.” She sighed. “Maybe I’ve just been looking for love in all the wrong places.”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath and asked, “I don’t suppose you can tell me more information about
Max’s fiancée, can you?”

“What? Why?” She looked at him with narrow eyes and pushed him against the wall hard. “What do
you want with, Sophie?”

“Sophie?” He looked at her in shock and he felt as if the world were spinning out of control.

“She’s my best friend, and you better not try any shit with her.” Ella’s voice was loud and ominous
and as Dr. Spencer blacked out, he thought it was funny that she was angrier about him bringing up her
friend’s name than she was when he had told her that he had been using her.

***

Ella tried to call Max as soon as she left the alleyway. She had left Dr. Spencer on the ground as soon
as he had fainted. She knew she should have waited to see if he was okay but she knew that she had to
talk to Max and let him know what she had found out. She was mad and angry at herself and she knew
that part of what the doc had said had been true. She was spoiled and she had used her body and
looks to get what she wanted. She didn’t want to be that woman anymore. She was determined to

move on with her life and forget men for the moment. Sleeping around had gotten her nowhere, just
with a bunch of loser men.

Max’s phone kept going to voicemail and she decided to go and visit him at the office the next day so
that she could speak to him without Sophie knowing what was going on. She tried to ignore all of the
stares from the men in the street as she walked, she knew that she looked like a hot mess but there
wasn’t much she could do about them. She grabbed her phone eagerly when it rang and was about to
put it back when she saw it was Joseph but something made her answer it.

“Ella?” His voice sounded unsure.

“Yes?” She sighed. “What do you want, Joseph?”

“I need to see you. We need to talk.”

“No.”

“It’s important.”

“So tell me over the phone.”

“No. It has to be in person. Please.” He lowered his voice. “Someone is out to ruin your brother,
Ella.”

“How did you know that?” She frowned into the phone. Was Joseph involved as well?

“They sent me photos of him and Alexis at some sort of club.”

“What club?”

“It says The X Club in the background.” He sighed. “Can I see you?”

“Why would the photos ruin him?” she asked him slowly.

“They may not ruin him financially but they may ruin his relationship with Sophie.”

“How so?”

“The photos are of Max and Alexis in a variety of different sexual positions Ella. Some are, shall we
say, very risqué.”

“Why would someone send you these photos?”

“Because they think I’m out for revenge because I lost my job.”

“Aren’t you?” She sighed.

“No.” He paused. “I need to see you Ella, please.”

“Are you divorced?” she asked hopefully.

“Let’s talk when I see you, Ella.” He begged. “Please.”

“Where do you want to meet?”

“Let’s meet at The X Club.”

“What?!?” Ella’s voice was loud.

“I think that will be the best way for us to get to the bottom of whatever is going on here, Ella.” He
sighed.

“But I don’t know.” She sighed. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“We need to stop them from getting to Sophie.” His voice was urgent. “Max is a good guy, Ella. I
respect him and love him like a brother. Sophie is the love of his life. He can’t lose her.”

Ella chewed on her lip and thought about everything. Hadn’t Dr. Spencer mentioned going to the club
as well? It seemed as if she needed to pay Frank Phillips a visit herself. “Okay. I’ll go.” She thought
for a second. “Unless Max has a better idea.”

“You can’t tell him,” Joseph stuttered.

“He has to know.” Ella’s voice was firm. “If you don’t hear from me tomorrow. I’ll meet you there
tomorrow evening.”

“Okay.” He grinned into the phone. “Oh and Ella.”

“Yes.”

“Dress slutty.” He laughed.

“You wish.” Ella hung up and stopped and ran her hands though her hair. She was excited to see
Joseph, she knew it was a mistake but she was doing it for Max and Sophie, that had to make it okay.

Chapter 16

Sophie

Jacob slept all through the night for once. Sophie thought that was ironic because she hadn’t been able
to sleep all night. Maxwell hadn’t come home and she had been calling him all night. His phone was
off and he hadn’t tried to call her at all. She lay in the bed with cried out and baggy eyes just staring at
the ceiling. She jumped out of the bed when she heard the knocking at the door.

“Hello.” She ran to it and opened it eagerly. “Oh, hello.”

“I have a letter.” The young man handed her an envelope. “Sign for it, please.”

“Okay.” She signed her name and then closed the door. She saw the writing on the envelope and her
heart stopped beating. It was from Max.

My Dearest Sophie,

It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I left and I already miss you more than life itself. I
didn’t want to write to you so quickly. I wanted to give you time to adjust to life without me but I
miss you and love you so very much.

There are circumstances that are beyond my control and I didn’t want you to have to live in a life
where you weren’t happy every second of the day. It broke my heart to hear you talk about
Nicholas. But if you think he will be a better man for you, I cannot change that.

I love you Sophie. You may not know this but the day you told me you loved me was the happiest
moment of my entire life. And when I found out you were pregnant it made me the proudest I have
ever been. Please name our daughter Winter, and yes, I know we will have a girl. I know that you
will be the perfect mother for Winter and Jacob.

Please do not try to find me. Contact Ella and let her know what has happened. She will get you
access to all of my accounts.

Your ever loving,

Max

Sophie broke down on the floor with uncontrollable sobs. She didn’t know what to do. What was the
meaning of his letter? Had he left her? Because she had told him about Nicholas? Nicholas meant
nothing to her. She wished she had never brought him up. She had just been so jealous talking about
Alexis. She wanted him to feel the same pain and hurt that she had and now she had driven him away.
She screamed into the floor and cried. She struggled to get up when Jacob started crying. She held the
baby to her chest and sobbed. “Oh Jacob,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?

She looked at her watch and realized that she was going to be late for her doctor’s appointment. She
sighed and sat on the couch. She was too depressed and sad to go anywhere. “I can’t leave the house
today, Jacob. That’s okay with you, right?” She closed her eyes and allowed her tears to run down
her face at their will.

After a few hours, she decided to call Ella. She didn’t really know what to say to her now. They
hadn’t had a good talk in years. But Ella didn’t answer her phone. Sophie sighed. She really just
needed someone to talk to, the last couple of weeks had been crazy and she felt like she might lose her
mind. She looked at the text message from Nick and bit her lip. She knew that she shouldn’t call him,
but she also knew that it wasn’t his fault that she had dragged his name into her conversation with
Max. He seemed like a nice enough guy and she just needed a friend to talk to right now. She dialed
his number without thinking and held her breath as she waited for him to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Nick’s voice was cautious.

“Nick, it’s me, Sophie.” She spoke slowly, wondering if he had already forgotten who she was.

“Sophie. It’s good to hear from you.” He paused. “Can I help you?”

“I just wondered if you were free to talk.” Sophie’s voice was soft and hurt. “But if you’re busy.”

“No. I’m not busy. I just wasn’t sure if there was a reason why you were calling me?”

“No real reason.” She laughed. “I just wanted to say hi.” She wanted to slap herself across the face;
he wasn’t even interested in her. He barely wanted to talk to her. What a fool she had made of herself.

“We can meet up for an early dinner, if you want.”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I have the baby.”

“Can your fiancé or friend take care of him?”

“No.” she sighed. “No, I don’t think they can.”

“Oh?”

“I can’t get in contact with either of them.” She laughed hysterically.

“It’s okay, Sophie.” Nick took a deep breath. “Why don’t we meet up now, before we don’t get
another chance, you can bring the baby with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He coughed. “I’ll meet you at our spot in Central Park in an hour.”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Nick.”

“No, thank you, Sophie.” He paused. “I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and crossed his fingers praying
that Sophie didn’t speak to Ella before she came to meet him.

**

Sophie tried calling Ella and Maxwell one last time before she went to meet Nick but there was still
no answer. She bundled Jacob up and got up the stroller that Max had bought earlier in the week. She
arrived just as Nick was sitting down and he jumped up when he saw her and gave her a big hug.

“Hi,” she said softly and gasped as she saw the bruises on his face. “Oh my, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “I fainted last night.”

“Oh no.” She touched his face softly. “You must have fallen hard.”

“I did.” He paused. “But I deserved it.”

“Oh Nick.” Sophie looked at his face and felt empty inside. She had made a mistake coming here.
Somehow she had found another lost soul and she didn’t know how to fix him. She didn’t think that
she could.

“So you should know that you’ll probably hate me by tomorrow.” His voice was pained and he
couldn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Why?” She looked at his bloodshot eyes and felt a tinge of something akin to fear.

“You have to believe that I didn’t know who you were, when I first met you.”

“What are you talking about?” She leaned towards him, heart beating fast.

“When I met you, Sophie, I thought that maybe my luck had changed. I thought that maybe you would
see the real me, the me that doesn’t really to come out in New York.”

“I thought I did see the real you.” She was confused.

“You did. When we played Frisbee and drank hot chocolate I thought that all of my dreams had come
true. I couldn’t believe that someone as lovely as you would give me a chance.”

“You’re a handsome and nice man, Nick.”

“I’m not a nice man.” He pulled out his tie. “Sophie, I’m Max’s shrink.”

“Wait, what?” She looked at him in shock.

“I didn’t know who you were until yesterday. I figured it out. It all made a weird sort of sense.”

“I don’t understand.” She looked at his face and grimaced. “Did Max do this to you?”

“No.” He paused and exhaled. “I was with Ella.”

“Ella?” She clutched her heart. “Oh my God. What have you done to Max and Ella?”

“What are you talking about?” He looked at her panicked.

“I haven’t seen or heard from either of them since yesterday.” She slid away from him and looked at
him like a stranger she was scared of.

“I swear to God, Sophie, I didn’t do anything.” He grabbed her hands.

“Then where are they?” she cried out.

“I don’t know.” He grabbed her shoulders. “You have to believe me. I wouldn’t hurt anyone. It wasn’t

even me, Sophie. It was Frank.”

“Frank Phillips?” She looked at him in shock. “The senator?”

“You know him?” He looked surprised.

“You could say that. He’s Jacob’s real dad.”

“What?” Nick jumped up. “Oh my god.” He slapped his hand to his forehead. “It all makes sense
now.”

“What?”

“I’ve been Max’s shrink for a while, since his downward spiral a few years ago.”

“His downward spiral?”

“I can’t tell you more.” He sighed. “But Max is a good man, he loves you, Sophie. You mean the
world to him.”

“Tell me more about what happened.” Her voice was cold. She didn’t want to hear more about Max;
she couldn’t afford to break down again.

“Alexis got him into drugs, the sex club, you name it, they did it. He was out of control and he was
angry. I’ve been helping him learn how to control his anger.”

“What a lucky man Max was,” she said sarcastically.

“I’ve done a good job, Sophie.”

“Whatever.”

“About a year and a half ago, I met a girl. She invited me to a club, we had a crazy night and the next
thing I know, I’m being blackmailed with explicit photos and videos and a copy of the girl’s birth
certificate.”

“Okay and?”

“She was underage.”

“Oh.”

“So then Senator Phillips presented me with an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“To spy on Max.”

“To tell him things of interest that Max told me. And when Max told me about the baby I told the
senator.”

“And now he’s worried that word will get out that it’s his?” Sophie sighed and looked at innocent
Jacob sleeping.

“I guess so.”

“What sort of man is this Frank? He’s evil.” She clutched her stomach. “And what sort of mother is
Alexis? How could she just give her child up like that?”

“I don’t know.” Nick reached out to her.

“Don’t touch me,” she screamed and sat up. “Let’s get this straight, Nick, I barely know you. I thought
we may have been friends but after everything you have told me today. I despise you. You are a weak,
evil man. I don’t know what you have done to my fiancé or my best friend but if I find out anything
bad has happened to either of them, I will find you and I will cut your dick off.” She jumped up and
grabbed Jacob’s stroller. “I never want to see you again.” She walked away quickly, adrenaline
giving her the strength to walk without her knees buckling beneath her.

Max stood behind the bush and watched her walk away, head held high. He had never been prouder
of Sophie than at that moment. He knew that he should have skipped town, that he should have left the
state if he really wanted his plan to work but he knew as soon as he paid the courier to deliver the
letter that there was no way he could be far away from his love. He had to make sure she was okay;
he had to make sure that Jacob was okay, and his precious daughter Winter. He wasn’t going to let
anything happen to them. He had been deeply hurt when he had followed Sophie to the park to her
meeting with a man. When he had realized that Nick was Dr. Spencer, he had wanted to jump out of
the bushes and beat him up. He wasn’t sure what stopped him. Maybe his love for Sophie was
controlling his urges; he knew that wasn’t the time to reveal himself.

As soon as he saw Sophie fade from sight, he walked to the bench where Nick was sitting. “Dr.
Spencer.” His voice was rough and angry and Nick jumped back when he saw him.

“Max.” He looked scared.

“I’m not going to kill you, Dr. Spencer or should I call you Nicholas?”

“Look Max, I don’t know what you think—”

“Listen to me, Nick. I don’t care what you have to say.” He leaned towards him. “I care about Sophie
and our life together.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt Ella,” Nick squeaked out.

“Ella?” Max frowned. “You’re the date?”

Nick’s eyes bulged out. “She didn’t tell you?”

Max shook his head. “I see that Frank really has it in for me, doesn’t he?”

Nick nodded without saying a word.

“When we met at Harvard, he was a nobody. Did you know that?” Max frowned. “I introduced him to
his wife. I was nothing but a friend to him but he hated me.”

“Why?”

“Because he thought I had it easy.” Max laughed harshly. “He thought I had the perfect life, money,
looks, a good family. But he didn’t know that the one thing I really wanted I couldn’t have.”

“Sophie?”

“I’ve always loved her, Nick. It’s hard to for people to understand that sometimes you just know

when someone is meant to be with you. She has had my heart from the first smile she gave me.”

“She’s special.” Nick sighed.

“She’s an angel on earth.” Max sighed. “And I will not allow anything bad to happen to her.”

“Do you think Frank will go after her?” Nick frowned.

“You tell me, Nick.” Max grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards him. “You know when I knew you
were a snake?”

Nick shook his head scared.

“When you started asking me those weird questions in the last meeting we had. That’s why I left so
quickly. I knew you were a leak.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t know you were the Nicholas though, not until I saw you today.” Max shook his head. “I’ve
got to hand it to Frank, he’s good. But he’s not better than me.”

“What shall we do?” Nick’s voice was scared.

“What’s Franks plan?”

“I don’t know. He just wanted more information about Sophie. He wants to hurt you through her.”

“Well, then we let him think that,” Max whispered into Nick’s ear. “I want you to call or text Frank
and tell him that Sophie and I are done and that I’m heartbroken. Let him think you’ve taken over the
relationship.”

“He won’t believe that.” Nick shook his head.

“I’ll send more letters, have his people intercept and read them.” Max grunted. “He’ll believe them.
Trust me.”

“But what about Sophie?”

“Leave her alone.” Max glared at him. “I will be looking out for her. Stay away from her and my
sister. And after you send Frank the messages, I expect you to leave town. For good.”

“Ok.” Nick took out his phone and opened it. He typed. “Max’s fiancée’s name is Sophie. But it’s
over. Max is so devastated that he left town. And now Sophie is mine .” He handed the phone to Max
and Max handed it back to him silently and nodded. Nick sent the message and they sat on the park
bench and waited until he got a response, it came about twenty minutes later. “Great news. Enjoy
Sophie, she’s a vixen for sure. If I weren’t married I’d screw her myself. I’ll be in contact if I need
anything else.” Nick showed him the message and Max threw the phone to the ground before standing
up.

“I have someone I need to go and see now but I expect to hear you’ve left town.”

“Take care of her, Max.” Nick looked at her with pleading eyes and Max could tell that Nick had had
genuine feelings for Sophie.

“I always will. She’s my life.” Max leaned into Nick and right hooked him in the stomach hard.

“That’s for my sister, you asshole.” He looked around him and walked away quickly. He needed to go
and meet Alexis and take care of the paperwork for the adoption and then he needed to sit pretty
while everything went through and then he could go back home and hope that Sophie would be willing
to listen and take him back.

Chapter 17

Ella

“Hey Sophie, I just saw your missed calls. Sorry, I was out. Is Max there?” Ella tried to keep her
voice upbeat not wanting her friend to know that there was anything wrong. It seemed like years had
passed since they had been the two young girls who summered in Winterside and made prank calls.

“Hey Ella, I’ve been better.” Sophie sighed. “I need to tell you something.”

“Is Max there, Sophie? I really need to talk to him.” Ella’s voice was insistent.

“He’s not here, Ella.” Sophie sighed. “I just met up with Nick, or you may know him as Dr. Spencer.”

“He found you?” Ella gasped.

“It’s a long story but I think Senator Phillips is after Max.”

Ella sighed. “I know.”

“You know?” Sophie exclaimed loudly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.” Ella sighed. “But I have a plan.”

“What? Let me help.”

“You can’t help, Sophie. I’m going to The X Club tonight. I’m going to try and talk to Senator
Phillips.”

“Oh Ella, you can’t go there.” Sophie paused. She didn’t want to tell her about her own experience
with Frank Phillips.

“It’s okay, Sophie. I won’t be alone.” Ella’s voice was determined. “I’m going with Joseph. And
before you say anything, he’s a good guy. Well, maybe not a good guy in love but he is loyal to Max.
He’s going to help me.”

“I don’t like this, Ella.” Sophie’s voice was sad. “These people are powerful and dangerous.”

“I’ll be okay.” Ella tried to keep her voice calm. “I promise. Just stay home and take care of Jacob.
Please.”

“Stay safe, Ella.” Sophie hung up and thought for a moment. There was no way that she was going to
allow Ella to go to ‘The X Club’ with Joseph and just stay home. Not to protect her and not to protect
Max. Someone needed to step up to protect Ella. She looked around and saw the wedding magazines
on the table and sighed. Why couldn’t she have just read the magazines and planned a wedding?
Instead she had to insist on going to the sex club and all sorts of chaos was in her life now. She
picked up Maxwell’s letter and held it to her heart. “Oh my darling Max, I hope you come back to
me.” She dropped the letter as she remembered something. Max had said he was going to meet Alexis
today to get the paperwork. She didn’t think that he would skip out of town and not take care of that.
So that meant he was still in town, which if she was smart she would have realized earlier. The letter
he sent had come by courier and not by a delivery service. Sophie’s heart started beating fast, Max
was still in town. Somewhere in New York, Max was doing something, possibly thinking about her.

She looked out at the sky and blew a kiss to the clouds. “That’s for you, my love.”

**

“I don’t care about him, I don’t care about him,” Ella whispered to herself in the back of the cab as
she checked her makeup on the way to The X Club. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she got
there. And she wasn’t sure how she would feel seeing Joseph again. Her heart still ached to be with
him. She loved that he got her and that he still cared about Max enough to stick his head out for him.
She wondered what would have happened between them if he hadn’t been married. Maybe he would
have married her. Maybe he would have cheated on her as well. She couldn’t allow herself to think
those thoughts. The thoughts of what could have been. “I’ll get out here,” she shouted at the driver to
stop a couple of blocks away from the club. She had arranged to meet Joseph outside of the club so
that they could arrive together. “Thanks.” She jumped out of the cab and walked to the corner and
waited for Joseph.

“Hey gorgeous.” He walked up to her looking debonair.

“Hi.” Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, all her emotions coming back to the surface.

“You look beautiful as always.” He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She was wearing a light grey see-
through top, her naked breasts were prominent beneath the top and her nipples were hard from the
cold air. He looked down at the maxi-skirt that barely covered her ass and grinned. “I take it you’re
ready for the club?”

“Yes.” She grinned. “Aren’t you?” He was wearing a white shirt and a pair of cotton pants.

“If you’re asking if I have any underwear on, then no, I don’t.” He reached over and caressed her
face. “I’ve missed you.”

She stared at him and looked into his blue eyes that were so clear and honest. “I don’t want to go
down this road again, Joseph.”

“I’m sorry.” He frowned. “I just wanted you to know that my feelings were genuine.”

“For me or for your wife?” she said bitterly and turned away. “Let’s just go.”

“What’s the plan?” Joseph ran to catch up with her.

“We need to find Frank Phillips and I need to talk to him.” Ella’s voice was hard and determined.

“Is that a good idea, Ella? What are you going to say?” Joseph looked at her in concern.

“I have a plan, Joseph.” She stared into his eyes and handed him a pen. “Take this. It’s a video
camera. When you see me with Frank, you need to point the tip at me and push the clicker down. It
will record sound and audio.”

“What am I going to be recording?” Joseph frowned.

“It doesn’t matter, Joe.” She sighed. “Please just do it. No matter what happens.”

“I don’t know, Ella.”

She pushed him against a wall and snarled at him angrily. “I don’t care what you know, or think or
feel anymore, Joseph. You blew it. Do you understand that? Just do as I tell you.”

“Okay, okay.” He put his arms around her and pulled her in closer to him so that her chest was
pressed against his. She allowed him to rub her ass for a few seconds before she pulled away.

“Let’s go.” She glared at him, happy with herself for being assertive with him. Once and for all she
was done with Joseph trying to dictate their relationship. She was in charge now and she was going to
make sure she got what she needed to get Senator Phillips to back off once and for all. They walked
up to the building and she wondered if they had the right place. It looked like a desolate warehouse.

“This is it?” She looked at Joseph with a frown.

“I’m pretty sure.” He nodded and they walked around the building. It took them twenty-five minutes to
find the entrance as it was hidden behind the trashcans. Ella took a deep breath and knocked on the
door and kept a serious face as two security guards studied her and Joseph. She must have done a
good job of fooling them because they let her and Joseph in without a word. The loud music and the
many people who were engaged in all sorts of sexual activity immediately struck Ella; she’d never
seen anything like it before. She tried not to think of Max at this club. He must have been in a really
dark place if he had frequented this perverse place.

“Stay behind me but keep up with me,” Ella commanded Joseph and walked around the club. She
grabbed a glass of champagne off of a tray and chugged it, she had a feeling that she was going to
need to be drunk to get through the evening. She looked around the room to see if she could locate the
senator. She’d looked at pictures of him online and she was sure she would recognize him if she saw
him. He was handsome, with a superficial likeness to Max, dark brown hair, big blue eyes and a tall
and sturdy stature. But that was where the differences ended. Philip had a cold vacant look in his eyes
in all the photos she had seen. He looked wild. And some instinct inside of her wanted to tame him.
She knew she was being irrational but part of her was looking forward to this evening, to seeing what
all the fuss was about. And then she spied him sitting on a red chair all by himself. He was sipping,
what she assumed to be a scotch or a brandy. She pushed her shoulders back and walked in his
direction, conveniently tripping and falling on him as she walked past him.

“Oh sorry.” She laughed lightly as she stared into his eyes. “I’m awfully clumsy.” She let her breasts
brush across his arm as she straightened herself and he looked at her in interest.

“No problem.” He looked away and she cleared her throat and tried again.

“May I join you?” She smiled and sat on his lap, pushing her ass into his crotch.

“I’m actually waiting on someone.”

“I’m sure they won’t mind if I wait with you?’ She brought his hand up to her breast. “It would be a
shame if I came all this way for some fun with a handsome stranger and I didn’t get it.”

Frank grabbed her breasts through her top and squeezed them hard. His fingers squeezed her nipples
and he whispered in her ear, “Well I don’t want to disappoint a beautiful girl.” He pushed her up and
stood up himself. “Come with me.” He grabbed her arm and led her to a room and Ella made sure that
Joseph was following them at a distance. She made eye contact with Joseph and he looked furious but

she ignored him. She wasn’t his for him to get jealous over. It served him right that he would have to
watch her with someone else. Frank led her to a dark room and Ella hoped that the pen camera had
the infrared light capabilities that the spy website had promised when she bought it.

Ella felt Frank push her up against the wall and pull her skirt up. His fingers went to her pussy and
she felt his rough hands rubbing against her clit roughly. She moaned as he slid his fingers into her
and she felt her body trembling with excitement.

“She liked my fingers as well,” he whispered in her ear. Ella stilled at his words, unsure if she had
heard him right.

“What?” she whispered.

“Your friend, Sophie? The one dating your brother. She enjoyed it when I fingered her as well.”

Ella pushed him away from her and gasped. “You’re lying.”

“I have a video.” He pushed her back against the wall. “I’m not sure what kind of game you’re
playing here, Ms. Van Harkel. It was brave of you to come here but I’d have recognized you
anywhere. Your brother had family photos in his dorm at Harvard.”

“Leave my brother alone, Senator Phillips,” she shouted in his ear and he stepped back. “Why don’t
you get a life, you asshole?”

“Why don’t you stop sleeping around?” He grabbed her breasts and molded them into his palms.
“Even at this moment as you are hating me, your body still wants to know what pleasures I am
capable of giving you.”

“No it isn’t,” she lied as her nipples ached for his touch once more.

“I bet you want to know what it would be like to fuck me and Joseph.”

“No,” she whispered.

“Joseph come.” Frank called out to the man who had been cowering in the corner. Joseph walked
over slowly and looked at Ella with hurt in his eyes. “Take her to the bed, you know you want to.” He
pointed to a large bed in the corner.

Ella stared at the two men in front of her and closed her eyes. She didn’t know what to do. When she
felt Joseph pick her up, she didn’t stop him. He dropped her on the bed and pulled her top off, falling
to her breasts and sucking them eagerly. Ella wriggled on the bed and moaned as she felt herself
growing wet. Joseph kissed his way down her stomach and pulled off her skirt before pushing his
mouth into her pussy. She groaned and bucked on his mouth, feeling the pressure building up in her.
She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the feelings of guilt in her mind. And then she felt the fingers
pinching her nipples hard. She looked up and saw Frank standing over her playing with her breasts.

“Isn’t it wonderful to feel two men pleasing you at the same time?”

“No,” she whispered but she knew she was lying. She had never felt such intense pleasure in all of
her life.

“I think you are lying, Ms. Van Harkel.” He grinned evilly and pulled his hands away. “But all good

things must come to an end I’m afraid. As I told you before I have a meeting.” He smiled at her coolly
and walked out of the room. Ella watched him leave with disappointment. But she didn’t have long to
miss his departure as moments later she felt Joseph entering her. She clenched her legs around his
waist and allowed him to slam into her hard and deep. His cock felt the same that it always had and
she cried out as he went faster and faster. She felt her breasts bouncing up and down and Joseph
rolled over so that she was now riding him. She closed her eyes and bounced up and down on him
and imagined that it was Frank below her. As she pictured Frank’s face, she found that she was even
more turned on and felt herself coming hard as Joseph climaxed inside of her. She groaned as she
rolled onto the bed next to him and they lay there in the dark in silence. Things had not turned out as
she had planned and she wasn’t sure if she could even trust her instincts any longer.

Chapter 18

Max

His meeting with Alexis had gone easily. It scared him how easy it had been. She handed over the
signed papers with no trouble and because she had listed him as the father on the birth certificate he
didn’t have to go through Frank Phillips. Max stared at Alexis as she babbled on about something. He
leaned in towards her and he realized that her pupils were dilated and she was high.

“Alexis, let me take you home.” He grabbed her arm and spoke to her firmly.

“Sorry Max, you had your chance.” She laughed.

“Alexis, are you on drugs right now?”

“Why do you want some?”

“I thought you stopped taking them after rehab?”

“What do you care?” she spat at him. “You never cared before when we were getting high.”

Max sighed and looked at the woman in front of him. She couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed how
coked out she looked. He had been so caught up in making sure that Jacob was going to his and
Sophie’s legally that he hadn’t even really paid attention to Alexis.

“I did you a disservice, Alexis. And I want to apologize.”

“You want to apologize to me?” She laughed hysterically.

“I’m sorry, Alexis.” He looked at her with pleading eyes. “Let me take you home.”

“Get your hands off me.” She pushed him. “I don’t give a shit about you Max. Don’t you realize that? I
love someone else.”

“So why have you been coming after me?” he asked her quietly.

“Because I don’t want you to be happy. Why should you have the fairytale when I can’t? We were
good for each other Max. We both used each other to numb our pain. I don’t care that you never
bothered trying to find out what was wrong because I didn’t give a shit about you either or your
precious little Sophie.”

“Alexis,” he sighed. “Please let me take you home.”

“I’m going to ‘The X Club’.” She grinned. “I’m finally going to get my man.”

“At the X Club?” He frowned. Who could she be in love with at the club? And then it struck him—
what he should have realized all along. “Are you going to see Frank, Alexis?”

“I love him Max and he loves me and you can’t keep me from him anymore. You can’t stop us from
being together.”

“I never stopped anything, Alexis.” He looked at her in pity. She wouldn’t be the first woman to get
caught in the senator’s trail. Max had seen many women drop out of Harvard after Frank was done

with them.

“He should have married me,” she cried out. “I loved him. I wanted him. Why didn’t he marry me?”

“You knew Frank before he married Gloria?” Max frowned, not really remembering them having met
before the X Club days.

“He befriended Mitch one summer and we dated.” She looked at him with almost focused eyes. “I’ve
loved him ever since.”

Max looked at her in shock. “Then why come after me, why drag me into this mess?”

She looked at him with pity then and cackled. “Frank hated you. I wanted to make him jealous. I
wanted him to realize that he wanted me and had to have me. It didn’t work. He was the one who got
me to convince you to try The X Club. Who knew you were just as fucked up? Well, I did of course.
Who else loves a stupid teenager?”

Max stared at her with anger on his face. “You used me?”

“You used me first, Max,” she screamed. “You never cared about me.”

“You tried to ruin my relationship, Alexis,” he growled at her. “You knew that Sophie was the love
of my life and you have done everything you can to ruin that.”

“You ruined it yourself, Max.” Her voice was soft. “You’re a whore. A selfish bratty whore. I don’t
care what happens to you or your ‘girl’.” She giggled. “I’m off to go get my happily ever after now.”

Max frowned. He wanted to just leave her and let her do whatever she wanted. But she was right, he
had been selfish before and he had failed her. He had failed her as a human being who should care
about the emotions of others. He knew what Sophie would do in this situation and sighed. “I can’t let
you just leave, Alexis.” He grabbed a hold of her arm.

“Frank is waiting on me,” she screamed.

“Frank is married.” He looked into her eyes, trying to make a real connection so he could get through
to her. “Frank is a senator whose goal is to become President, Alexis. He is never going to leave his
wife for you. He is never going to marry you. You are never going to play happy family.”

“He loves me and he’s waiting on me at the club.” Her eyes flashed angrily at him.

“Then I’ll take you to the club.”

“I don’t want you to take me.” She struggled against him.

“You’re not going unless it’s with me.” He was obstinate. He owed her this.

“Fine. Let’s go.” She shrugged her shoulders and sang to herself. Max walked besides her with a
heavy heart. How had he not seen how troubled she was before?

They drove in silence to the club. Max knew that this was the best way to make Frank believe that he
and Sophie were truly over. He already had the second letter ready to be delivered the next day. He’d
told Nick what courier was delivering it and he’d passed the information on to Frank. As far as Frank
knew, Max’s life was in crumbles all around him. He knew this was all a game to Frank, he didn’t
care about Jacob, and he didn’t care about Alexis. He just wanted to make sure that Max’s life was a

misery. He didn’t really understand why Frank was so determined to bring him down, but he
supposed some people were just mentally twisted. Now that he had the signed paperwork from
Alexis, he had all that he needed to stop Frank. Alexis had signed paperwork that had signed all of
Jacob’s rights over to Max and Sophie and acknowledged that Senator Frank Phillips was the birth
father but was not interested in fathering the child. This paperwork along with the video and photos
Max had in his safe contained enough damaging information to make sure that Frank stayed out of his
life forever.

He just needed to make sure that Sophie was safe for now. He knew that once Frank thought he and
Sophie were done, he would be secure in his position of ultimate power and hierarchy over Max.
And once he read that letter and confirmed with Nicholas that he and Sophie were now together, he
would believe it. Max hoped that all went according to plan because he was laying it all on the line
so that he and Sophie could have a normal happy life together. He could only hope that her love was
strong enough to forgive him leaving without telling her the plan. But he knew he couldn’t tell her the
truth, he needed her pain and emotions to be real and vulnerable. He needed Frank to look at photos
of her, Max knew he was having her followed, and to see the gut-wrenching sadness in her eyes and
face. This had been the only way. “Well, we’re here.” He pulled up to the club and turned to a frantic
Alexis. “You don’t have to go through with this. Frank’s not worth it, Alexis.”

“I’m going in.” She opened the door and stumbled out of his car and Max sighed. This was a part of
the plan that he didn’t want to deal with.

Chapter 19

Sophie

She had been lucky to find a babysitter at the last moment. She hadn’t wanted to leave Jacob but there
was no way she wanted to take him to the club with her. And there was no way that she wasn’t going
to go. She had been a bad friend in the last couple of years, ignoring the signs that Ella needed help.
At first it had seemed innocent and exploratory when Ella had spent the night with different men, but
as the numbers had increased Sophie had been worried that there was more going on than met the eye.
She had been worried that Ella was a sex addict or had emotional issues but she had never been sure
how to bring it up. And she had been too obsessed with her love for Max to bring it up to him. She
knew in her heart that she had failed Ella as a friend but starting tonight, she was going to change that.

As soon as Ella had told her she was going to ‘The X Club’ and that Joseph was accompanying her,
Sophie knew she was in trouble. Ella was in a downward spiral and Sophie didn’t want anything bad
to happen to her friend. She arrived at the club and took a deep breath before going in. This was a
much different set-up than ‘The Games’ and she felt overwhelmed and slightly scared. She missed
Max. She didn’t know where he was or what he was doing but she just wanted to talk to him, to tell
him what was going on, to let him know that she loved him and missed him. She wanted him to hold
her close and tell her everything was going to be okay. Because she was scared. Really scared. Not
just because she wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. But because she was scared she was
going to make a bad mother. She had already missed an important doctor’s appointment. She couldn’t
afford to do that again. She couldn’t afford to miss any more meals. She couldn’t afford the stress. Not
when there was another life at stake. She owed it to her baby to be strong. She needed to think of the
baby first now. And she was scared she didn’t know how to.

Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked around for Ella and Joseph. She sighed as she looked at
all the people in various stages of copulation. It didn’t seem sexy or adventurous now. She felt sick
and embarrassed. And she was mad, she was mad that she had to be here. What did Ella think she
was going to do when she got here? Just march up to Frank and tell him to leave her family alone?
She decided that she needed a plan; she was going to walk around the room from left to right and look
in each door that she came to, hopefully she would see Ella somewhere.

It was the fourth door that she came to when she felt her heart beating strongly. She knew before she
even walked in the dark room that Ella was in there. She walked slowly and stopped by a bed. On it
she saw a naked Ella and Joseph and she wanted to scream and cry. She didn’t understand why Ella
just couldn’t seem to say no.

“Ella get up.” She kept her voice friendly and calm but now she had found her friend all she wanted
to do was to get out of there.

“Sophie?” Ella frowned and blushed as she covered herself up. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“I’m not here to judge, Ella.” Sophie smiled weakly at her friend. “But get your clothes on so we can
leave.”

“Sophie, why are you here?” Ella’s voice is panicked. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Ella, we can talk afterwards.”

“But Joseph is sleeping.” Ella pulled on her top and skirt.

“I don’t care.” Sophie grabbed her friend’s arm. “You need to forget about him, Ella. Please.” She
stared into her friend’s eyes. “You need to get help.”

“Help for what?” Ella turned away from her and Sophie sighed. This wasn’t the time or the place for
this conversation.

“Let’s just go.” She pulled her friend with her to the door.

“Okay, okay. Just hold on.” Ella sighed.

They walked quickly back through the club and that was when Sophie felt another odd feeling. “Hold
on.” Sophie stopped and walked back across the club to another room and opened the door slightly
and peeked inside. She saw Frank and Alexis arguing and she cringed as she watched them. She was
about to close the door when she saw a slight movement from the corner of the room. It was Max. Her
Max. She was about to rush into greet him, when he walked up to Alexis and put his arms around her.
She cried out in shock as she watched him kiss her hair and she trembled uncontrollably.

“Sophie and I are done, Frank.” Max sneered at him. “I’m back with my true love Alexis now.”

Frank stared at Max with fury. “Why would you want that two-bit whore, Max?” He laughed. “She
came here begging for me and now you want her.”

“I’ll have whatever part of her that she’ll give me.” Max pulled Alexis closer to him. “She’s a
special lady Frank and I feel sorry for you if you can’t see that.”

Frank rolled his eyes. “You never did get it, did you, Max? It’s not about the women or the money.
It’s about the power. It’s about the control.”

“No Frank, I think you don’t get it,” Max snarled at him. “I’m going to be raising your son, Frank,
don’t you care about that?”

“If he’s my son.” Frank looked at Alexis in disgust. “If you want to take care of a whore and her
child, that’s up to you.”

“Let me be clear about one thing, Frank.” Max pushed his face into the other man’s. “I have videos of
you, me, Alexis and Gina and photos. I also have a signed legal statement from Alexis that you are
Jacob’s father. If I ever hear that you are coming after me or my family again, I will release
everything to the media and you will be ruined. Your wife will leave you, you will lose your position
and you will never be President.”

“You would never do that, Max.” Frank looked at him in anger.

“Yes I would.” Max’s voice boomed across the room. “I have nothing else to lose Frank and a whole
lot to gain. Stay away.” And then he right hooked Frank in the face. Frank went flying back and cried
out. “And if you ever contact Alexis again, I will have you killed. Do you hear me?”

“Is that whore worth it, Max?” Frank laughed and rubbed his cheek, though he stayed back from Max.

“Alexis is my life, Frank. She is more than worth it.”

Sophie felt like she was going to faint at the words she was hearing. Nothing in her life was ever
going to be the same again.

“How quickly the mighty have fallen? I’m sorry to hear that Sophie left you.”

“She is with Nicholas now. He’s a good man. And I trust him.” Max’s voice was clear and
passionate. “Alexis and I are going away tomorrow, for good. My father will be running the company
while I get set up overseas.”

“Good riddance. You both deserve each other.” Frank looked at him with narrowed eyes and Sophie
fell back. She’d had enough, she couldn’t hear anymore.

“Let’s go.” She grabbed a delirious Ella and ran out of the club. She drove them back to her
apartment and as soon as she paid the babysitter she locked herself in the bathroom and cried. When
she woke up the next morning, Ella had gone. She decided not to call her just yet; she knew Ella
needed time to herself to think for a bit. She sat on the couch and stared at the wall in front of her in
detached silence. The knocking at the front door didn’t even move her and it was about thirty minutes
later when she finally got up to open the door to see if anything had been left for her.

Sophie saw the envelope and her heart stilled. Another letter had arrived to bring her out of her
detached numbness. The handwriting looked straight and neat. It was as if he had hoped that his
apparent calmness would soothe her broken heart and wounded soul. She picked up the letter
lifelessly. She didn’t want to read the words that would crush her all over again. She didn’t know if
she was strong enough to withstand the gamut of emotions that were sure to pass through her as she
read his letter. She preferred the silence of her numbness to the burning screeches of her pain. But she
couldn’t resist the magnetic pull of the letter. She ran to her bedroom and ripped open the envelope,
falling to her bed in sobs as she finished reading the poetic words of the man she loved.

My Dearest Sophie,

I hope this letter does not meet you with too much grief. By now you should have received one
other letter from me. I remember how you loved to receive letters as a child. I hope that you are
beginning to understand my actions. That’s all I dare ask of you now, Sophie. Remember me as the
man you loved and not the man I became.

Please kiss Winter and Jacob every night and give them an extra long hug from me. Tell them that
their father loves them dearly and I hope that one day they will see that I was trying to protect
them. Thank you for being the kind of mother that welcomes everyone into your heart. My love for
you has tripled in these last few weeks as I have witnessed the magnanimity of your devotion.

Sophie, you know that it pains me to say this but Nicholas is a good man. Know that you have my
blessing.

Always yours, in sickness and in health, in life and in death,

Maxwell

So it was true she thought to herself. He had left her. She couldn’t believe that he would do this to
her. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him that Nicholas was nothing to her, that she had only
wanted a new friend. She cried out in anguish and ran and banged the walls in pain and fury. The
loudness of her actions made Jacob cry and she broke down on the floor in tears. Jacobs’s wails got
increasingly louder and she felt something click in her brain. She couldn’t be this person right now.
She had to be stronger for herself and for Jacob. She needed some fresh air. She picked up Jacob and
changed his diaper before putting him in his pram. She decided to take him on a walk through the
park. The fresh air would make both of them feel better.

She walked out of the building quickly before she could change her mind. She didn’t change her
clothes or wash her face or brush her hair and she knew she looked a mess, but she just didn’t care.
She got to the park and watched all the people around her having fun. She wished she could feel even
a fifth of the happiness that some of the couples were feeling. As she stared at an elderly couple
walking and holding hands, she couldn’t stop the tears from coming. She was heartbroken and
dejected.

Max and Nick sat on a park bench and watched as Sophie cried. Both of them feeling her pain in
different ways.

“Take a photo now and send it,” Max ordered Nick.

Nick took out his phone and snapped a photo of Sophie as she stood there crying uncontrollably. He
attached it to a text and said: Your work has been done. Sophie and Max are over. I’m moving in
now. He got a reply back within a few minutes: Good. Delete my number and don’t contact me
again. Frank. Nick looked at the text in surprise and wonder and felt a sudden release.

“I think I’m done.” He looked at Max with a smile on his face and showed him the text message.

Max nodded and stared at him with a hard look in his eyes. “I think you should see this as another shot
at life, Nicholas. I want you out of New York within a week, do you hear me?”

Nick looked at him with pained eyes. “I’m sorry, Max.”

“I don’t care about your sorries, Nick. I just need to make sure that Sophie is okay.”

“Tell her I’m sorry, please.” Nick pleaded. “I—”

“Stop.” Max held his hand up to silence him. “You don’t get to feel sorry or say anything, Nick. We
are done here. Leave.”

“For what it’s worth, Max, I’m proud of your progress. The love of a good woman has really made
you a better man.”

“She has blessed my life in more ways than I ever would have thought possible.” Max sighed. “I only
wish that more of us were lucky enough to find our true loves.”

“What happened with Alexis?” Nick questioned as he stood up.

“She’s back in Winterside. Mitch is going to get her into a rehab program in Paris.”

“Paris? Nice.” Nick looked at him with respect. “You really did good by Alexis, Max.”

“I failed her. I should have tried to help her battle her demons a long time ago. But it was the least
that I could do. I think I helped her save a little self-respect.”

“Frank really crushed her, huh?”

“Yes.” Max sighed. “He crushed her until there was nothing left. He never loved her. In fact, he
probably loved seeing the effect he had on her, so needy and washed out.”

“He’s an evil man.” Nick sighed.

“Yes, yes he is.” He paused. “But I suppose he has his reasons as well.”

“I wonder if he knows what it is to love?” Nick questioned but Max saw him staring at Sophie. Max
felt something in his body want to comfort Nick. He knew that the man genuinely loved Sophie. And it
was that love that had made him help Max. But the both of them couldn’t have her and he would never
let Nick have her. He would never be good enough for his Sophie, no matter what lies he had put in
his letter. He was never going to just leave and let Nicholas attempt to take over her heart. They both
sat there and watched Sophie as she attempted to wipe away her tears with her shirtsleeve. She
looked disheveled, depressed, and achingly solitary and it made Max love her even more. She had
still found it in her to take Jacob for a walk, even though she was at her lowest. He would have to
spend the rest of his life trying to make up for the pain he was putting her through right now.

Max jumped up quickly as he saw Sophie walking again. “We need to leave now.” He pushed Nick
and they ran to the street, terrified that she would notice them. Max reached out and shook Nick’s
hand. “Good luck, Dr. Spencer.”

“Thanks Max.” Nick smiled briefly and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Max stood there
for a moment trying to absorb everything. It was done. Everything was finally done. All he needed
was to get Sophie to take him back and to forgive him. And after watching her cry her eyes out, he
needed to be able to forgive himself for putting her through all of that heartache.

**

Sophie dried her eyes and looked down and saw that Jacob was sleeping. She knew she should
continue walking in the park but she just didn’t have the energy. She just wanted to go back home so
that she could lie down and cry. She hurried back into the building and back to the apartment so that
she could break down in the comfort of her own home. She laughed at the irony of her thoughts. She
considered the apartment her home now, even though she hated that Max had lived there with Alexis.
Somehow she forgot about that when she was there. Maybe it was because sitting on the couch or
lying in the bed made her think of Max and only Max. It was his scent she smelled, his clothes she
saw, his voice she heard when she closed her eyes. The apartment was her link to Max and she knew
that she would never leave it, that she could never leave it if he never came back to her.

She stood by the door for a moment and rested her head before she opened it. She needed a moment
before she walked into the lonely space again. Finally she opened the door and gasped as she walked
in. She rubbed her eyes, not quite believing what she saw. Max was standing there with a bouquet of
flowers and a worried look on his face. His hair was rumpled and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in
days. His eyes bore into hers and looked defeated and weary. His clothes looked dirty and she
laughed as she realized that he looked as rough as she did. She only had to look at him for a few
seconds before she ran into his arms and burst into tears. They stood there for what seemed like a few
hours and just held each other. She felt his chest heave beneath her and she knew that he was as
emotional as her. She knew in that moment that her Max had returned to her and everything was going
to be all right.

“I’m sorry, Sophie,” he whispered in her ear and she looked up at him not sure whether to laugh or
cry. His eyes held unshed tears and she realized the gravity of his emotions. This man loved her as
much as she loved him. She knew it in her heart, in her soul, in her bones. She wasn’t sure how she
had ever doubted it.

“Don’t you ever leave me again.” She poked him in the chest. “Do you hear me? Never again.”

“Never.” He held her close and felt her heart beating in sync with his. “I love you, Sophie. Nothing
will ever keep me apart from you again.”

Chapter 20

Max

He couldn’t believe that he was now a married man. That Sophie was now his wife. And that they had
gotten married by a Justice of the Peace in a courthouse. It had only been a week since all the drama
had gone down but they had both needed and wanted to get married right away. They had held on to
each other with such devotion and tears when they had reunited and had promised each other that they
would never part again, no matter what.

“Are you sure you don’t want to have a big wedding?” he whispered into her ear as they rode in the
back of the limo to the airport. They hadn’t had a magazine dream wedding but they were going to
have a dream honeymoon. He had made sure of that. Everything was taken care of and Jacob was in
Winterside with his parents.

“I’m more than sure.” She laughed happily and held his hand. “All I wanted was to be your wife. I
don’t need the rest.”

“All I wanted, all I needed was for you to be my wife, so of course I’m happy.” He grinned.

“Thanks for flying my aunt and uncle up.” Sophie stroked his hand. “It meant so much to me.”

“Of course, my love. They are family.” He picked up her hand and kissed it.

“And thank you for supporting them and me.” She sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to know.” Max sighed.

“Max, you paid for my college, you paid for their livelihood,” Sophie exclaimed.

“The insurance had run out, Sophie. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you or to them.”

“But you didn’t even tell them.” She looked at him with love. “You let them think that you had found
another insurance policy that my parents had.”

“I didn’t want them to say no.” He looked into her eyes. “Don’t you know that I would do anything for
you and your family, Sophie? I just want to make sure you are okay. That’s my whole life’s goal.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky.” She beamed at him as his kissed her.

“I’m the lucky one, Sophie. I’ve waited for this moment my whole life. I was made for you. We were
destined to be together. And now you are my beautiful wife.”

“I didn’t know if this day would ever come.” He laughed as she shook her head. He studied her face,
she looked beautiful wearing her white flowing dress, with her long hair in curls and a ring of white
flowers in her hair. She looked like an angel. And he supposed that she was really, she was the angel
that had taken his heart and saved his life. “I’ll never forget this moment, Sophie. The moment when
you became my wife. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see this day.”

“It sure has been a long road.” She grinned at him and kissed his cheek, and then his nose and his lips.
“And if you ever pull a stunt like that again without telling me, it will be a much longer road.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Sophie.”

“I forgive you.” She caressed his face. “I know you did it for me. But it broke my heart. When I saw
you with Alexis and I heard you say you loved her.”

“I didn’t know you were watching that.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you went to The X
Club.”

“I had to go for Ella,” she said earnestly.

“I know. And thank you.” He sighed and looked sad. “I didn’t know things were so bad for her.”

“But she’s getting help now.” Sophie squeezed his hand. “That’s the most important thing.”

“Yes.” Max stroked Sophie’s hair. “And apparently she is seeing someone new.”

“No way?” Sophie frowned.

“My mom told me.” Max smiled. “Apparently she’s head over heels in love.”

“Joseph is in Africa, right?”

“Yes.” Max smiled. “He’s working for a diamond mine that a friend of mine owns in South Africa.”

“So at least we know it’s not him.” She laughed.

“Thank God.”

“So maybe this guy could be the one?” Sophie looked at him hopefully.

“Let’s hope so. I’m going to have him checked out to make sure that everything is kosher though.” He
kissed her lips. “But right now, I want to concentrate on the fact that you are my one and only
beautiful wife.”

“Am I?” She grinned at him and he licked her lips. “I better not find out that there are others.”

“You are the one and only in my life, Sophie. Without you life would not be worth living.”

Sophie held his hand to her heart and stared into his eyes. “Max, I love you for the man that you are,
strong, kind, calm, loving. I love you for protecting me, for loving Jacob, for adoring Winter. You are
the man that every woman deserves. I thank you for taking care of Alexis. What you did for her that
night is beyond words. I am happy to be married to a man that will go out of his way to love and care
for others. I am happy to have given my heart to the man who owns my soul.”

Max touched her stomach and rubbed it. “Winter could have no better mother, Sophie. I could have no
better wife. Ella could have no better friend. God made our two souls as one. There is no me without
you, Sophie. There is no good in me without your love, there is no strength in me without your heart.”

“Oh Max.” Sophie stared at the man that she adored and she knew that finally, after everything they
had been through, they had their new beginning.

“I hope you don’t mind that I am going to devour you tonight.” Max grinned.

“Only tonight?” Sophie raised an eyebrow.

“You want more?” He grinned.

“I think you signed on to devour me tonight, tomorrow night and every other night as long as we both
shall live.”

“Well I guess I did sign on for that.”

“Max, what are you doing?” she squealed as she felt his hands running up her leg.

“There’s nothing to say I can’t start right now, is there?” He grinned as he his fingers found the garter
on her thigh. “I’m going to have fun pulling this off with my teeth.”

“What, now?” She looked at him with wide eyes.

“If you want.” He grinned and licked his lips.

“Oh Maxwell Van Harkel, I love you.”

“I love you too, Mrs. Van Harkel.”

Epilogue

“Is it funny that I think Winter and Jacob look alike?” Sophie laughed as she played with the babies in
the grass. “I really think they have the same smile.”

“They get it from their mother.” Max smiled at her as he poured the wine and put food on their plates
for the picnic.

“Even though I’m not Jacob’s birth mother?” She cocked her head and smiled at him.

“Well, you know I’m not his birth father.” Max laughed. “The court made me take the paternity test
remember, when we filed for adoption.”

“I know, dear.” She grinned at him. “It’s just funny how alike they look. They even have the same
mannerisms.”

“That’s because Winter does everything Jacob does.”

“She does love her big brother, doesn’t she?” Sophie smiled.

“Almost as much as he loves her.” Max reached over and played with Sophie’s hair. “And almost as
much as I love you.”

“But no one could love as much as I love you.” She smiled at him.

“I’m just happy that we all love each other as much as we all do.” He kissed her cheek.

“I would have loved him if he was yours as well.” She looked at her son and felt her heart expand
with tenderness. “I can’t even imagine a life without Jacob.”

“You would have loved the child I made with Alexis just as much?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yes.” She looked at him with a sweet smile. “I love all of you, Max, and that includes your sordid
past. I would have loved Jacob no matter what.”

“I know, my love. I know.” Max stared at his wife as she stared at their children and he felt his heart
expand. “We’re really lucky, you know.”

“I know.” She tickled Jacob and he giggled up at her. “We have two wonderful healthy children,
enough money to raise them and we have each other. I can’t believe how lucky we are.”

“It does feel like a dream sometimes.” He handed her a sandwich.

“A dream that would be made even better if you changed their diapers sometimes.” Sophie laughed
and Max groaned.

“Life’s not perfect, my love.”

“Near perfect is good enough for me.” She picked Winter up and passed her to Max. He held her
carefully and stared down at his daughter with love in his eyes.

“I can’t believe she is one already.”

“I know.” Sophie picked Jacob up as he laughed.

“Momma, tickle, tickle.” He rolled around in her lap.

“Jake honey, you have to eat lunch first.”

“No, tickle.” He laughed up at her and she bent down and buried her face in his stomach and blew
raspberries on it as he laughed in delight. Max and Winter stared at them with big smiles. Sophie sat
up again and looked at Jacob in the eye.

“Now you have to eat, Jake.”

“Yes, Momma.” He sighed and reached his little grubby hands for a sandwich.

“Good boy, Jake.” Max smiled at his son as he nibbled on an egg sandwich.

“Oh Daddy.” Jake rolled his eyes and Sophie and Max laughed.

“Ella’s coming up tomorrow.” Sophie smiled at Max. “She got into law school.”

“I heard. I think she’ll make a good lawyer.”

“Me too.” Sophie grinned. “I’d rather it be her than me though.”

“Well, now you have your bachelors you can do whatever you want.” Max leaned over and kissed her
again. “Congratulations once again, my love.”

Sophie laughed and kissed him back, trying not to crush her daughter. “I’m perfectly happy being a
mom and making my crafts.” She smiled at him.

“That’s good to hear.” He laughed. “Because I think it would be hard going to law school with three
kids.”

“Tell me about it.” Sophie laughed and let Jake rub her belly.

“Momma having another baby,” he squealed. “Me, Winter and boom boom.”

“Boom boom?” Max laughed.

Sophie sighed and laughed. “He got it from a cartoon.”

Jacob stood up and ran around giggling. “Momma having a boom boom.”

“Jake, please sit down and finish eating.” Max looked at his son with a stern face and tried to hold
back his grin.

“Daddy having a boom boom.” Jake kept running and eventually sat down next to his dad and kissed
Winter on the cheek. “I love Winter,” he said proudly and Sophie and Max looked at each other with
happiness and joy. They had finally made themselves a happy family and neither of them could be
happier.

**

“I can’t believe you guys moved to Winterside.” Ella grinned as she helped Sophie put away the
children’s toys. She couldn’t quite believe how messy one child could make a room. “You guys must
have bought out the local toy store,” she exclaimed as she put away what seemed like the fiftieth toy

truck of the day.

“You know I’ve always loved it here.” Sophie smiled at her friend, happy to see her so happy. And
then she laughed. “I think Max bought shares in Toys “R” Us. I’ve never seen so many toys in my
life.”

“Yes. I think you loved it more than I did.” Ella laughed. “We should take a train ride with the kids
this weekend for old time’s sake. That way Jacob can see what a real train is like so he can make the
appropriate noises when he plays trains the next time.”

“That would be awesome.” Sophie nodded her head. “And I’m sure Max will love it when he starts
screaming ‘choo choo’ early in the morning.” She laughed and then paused and looked at her friend.
“I’m so sad you’re leaving, Ella. I’m really going to miss you.”

“I’m only going to California, it’s not so far away.” Ella smiled and ran her fingers through her now
long again blonde hair. Her eyes sparkled and she looked like a new woman. “This is going to be
good for me. It’s the change I need.”

“It’s just that Los Angeles seems like a planet away.” Sophie sighed. “But what an adventure. UCLA
law school. That will be so awesome.”

“I think so.” Ella nodded. “A real adventure and a way to find myself away from all the craziness of
the city.”

“I’m really excited and proud of you Ella.” Sophie’s voice was earnest. “You are going to be
amazing.”

“Thanks Soph.” Ella grinned and tried to hold in her sadness at leaving her best friend. She decided
to change the subject before they both got overemotional. “But oh my gosh, did you hear about
Alexis?”

Sophie laughed and nodded her head. “Yes and I can’t believe it.”

“Associate editor at Paris Vogue,” they both said at the same time and laughed.

“Who would have guessed it?” Sophie exclaimed.

“Not me.” Ella grinned. “But hey, at least you know she will be in Europe for a long time.”

“Yes.” Sophie turned to her friend. “Though I’m not concerned about her anymore. She sent me a long
letter apologizing. She’s clean now. She regrets a lot of things that she did.”

“As she should!” Ella exclaimed.

“It was really Frank’s fault.” Sophie grimaced. “The things he did to her.”

“You can’t really blame, Frank.” Ella’s tone of voice changed. “He never loved her, she was like a
fatal attraction kind of woman.”

Sophie paused and looked at her best friend and sister-in-law. “I don’t know the whole story between
Alexis and Frank but he has a lot to answer for.”

“I don’t know that anyone ever really got his side of the story though.” Ella’s voice was tense and she
turned around.

Sophie sighed and changed the subject. She didn’t want to think about the past. “So are you ever going
to introduce Max and I to Mr. Wonderful?”

Ella turned towards her and sighed. “I didn’t really want to say anything but we broke up.”

“Oh no.” Sophie grabbed her friend’s arm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She smiled. “It wouldn’t have worked out long-term anyway.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Ella grinned. “I’ve got my perfect niece and nephew, a wonderful brother and the best
friend a girl could ask for in my life. When the time is right, I’ll meet my Prince Charming.”

“Oh Ella.” Sophie grabbed her friend and hugged her. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” They stood there and held each other letting their emotions flow freely.

“Momma’s having a boom boom.” Jacob ran up to them and joined the hug making them both laugh.

“You know you’re my favorite nephew, Jacob?” Ella picked him up and kissed his cheeks.

“Yes, Auntie,” he squealed with delight.

“I love you, Jakey.” She swung him around and they both giggled. Sophie watched them with
happiness and went to go and check on Winter in her room. Max was sitting in the room writing.

“Max?” She walked up to him. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” He beamed at her and stood up, placing his pad and pen down on the chair. “I was just
writing.”

“Oh?”

“Being in here with Winter makes me feel creative.”

“That’s great.” She smiled at him tenderly.

“She looks like you.” Max stared into Sophie’s eyes. “She has your eyes, your hair, your smile, your
perfect little nose.”

“But she clings to you more than anyone else.” Sophie laughed. “She’s definitely a daddy’s girl.”

“She just knows how much I adore her.” He laughed. “I could watch her all day and night, Sophie. I
never knew my heart was capable of this much love.”

“I know.” She stroked his hair. “Our love is all consuming as parents.”

He pulled her towards him. “I swear that my life is the stuff of daydreams, Sophie.”

“But it’s real.” She pinched him. “See?”

“You’re incorrigible, you know that right?” He laughed at her and rubbed his arm.

“That’s why you love me.” She grinned and he pulled her towards him and held her tightly.

“You know, if you ever want that huge wedding, you just let me know.”

“I don’t need that Max. I never did.”

“I know.” He rubbed her back as he stared into her eyes. “I can’t believe how close we came to
losing everything.”

“We would have found each other Max.” She spoke with a firm resolution. “I would have hunted you
down, Maxwell Van Harkel. I will never let you go.”

“You better not.” He grinned. “I followed you, you know?”

“What?” She looked at him with wide eyes.

“When I left, I followed you, to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh Max.” She slipped her tongue into his mouth and they stood there kissing passionately.

“Ahem.” Ella cleared her throat at the door. “Sorry to interrupt but Jacob wants everyone to come to
the living room.”

“Does he now?” Max grinned.

“Daddy, come.” Jacob came running into the room. “Come.” He pulled his father’s hand and then
stared at his mom. “Come on Mom, bring Winter and boom boom.”

Ella burst out laughing. “I feel sorry for the new kid. She’s going to have to deal with boom boom for
the rest of her life.”

Sophie grinned. “Or he.”

Max turned to her. “What, you found out the gender and didn’t tell me?”

“No Max.” She rubbed his arm. “I don’t know the babies gender as of yet.”

“Oh okay.” He grinned. “I was about to say. No secrets, remember?”

“Uhm, I think it’s you that’s not to keep any secrets from me any more.”

“Whatever.” He laughed.

“Momma and Daddy come,” Jacob called out from the hallway and they all worked to the living
room.

“I’ll be right there.” Max turned back and went to get his notepad and guitar and took them with him to
the living room and sat next to Sophie on the couch.

“Okay look.” Jacob danced around the room and started singing. “Gang gan style, gang gan style.” He
sang and danced around the room giggling.

Max and Sophie stared at each other and laughed as their son danced around the room. Ella jumped
up and joined him and the two of them giggled and did the moves to the famous song.

“What have you done to my family?” Max whispered in her ear.

“They’re crazy. Just like you.” She laughed and he tickled her. “Hey.” She laughed and rested her
head on his shoulder.

“Momma, Daddy, join me and Auntie.” Jake ran up to them and batted his long eyelashes.

“He’s just as bossy as you.” Sophie rolled her eyes.

“Everyone sit down.” Max stood up. “Jake, sit down with Auntie and Mommy, I want to sing you a
song I wrote.”

“Gang gan style.” Jake pouted.

“Not right now, honey.” Sophie picked him up and placed him on her lap and he wriggled trying to get
off. “No Jake, sit still for a moment.” She kissed the top of his head. “Be good for Mommy?”

He sighed and looked at her. “Ok Momma.” He rested his head back and sucked his thumb. Ella came
and sat down next to Sophie and looked at her brother.

“Oh God, my brother’s Jon Bon Jovi now.” She laughed.

“Ella, shut up.” He laughed. And strummed his guitar to tune it. He looked at his family sitting on the
couch and he smiled at them tenderly. “I never thought that I could be this happy, that I could love you
all this much.” He paused. “And my beautiful Winter as well.”

“Winter is sleeping,” Jacob informed him as he sucked his thumb.

“I know and I want to keep it that way for now.” Max laughed. “I wrote this song to express my love
for you all and I wanted to play it for you all.”

“Oh Max.” Sophie stared at him with adoration in her eyes.

“Please excuse me if I’m out of tune or emotional.” He looked into Sophie’s eyes and blew her a kiss
before singing. He strummed his guitar and started playing and singing:

I’ve been blue, I’ve been sad, but I’ve never been down and out,

I’ve been to hell and back but the flames didn’t burn me,

The sun has blessed me with a woman who holds the key,

The key to my heart, my soul, and to everlasting happiness.

Life can’t burn me, can’t stop me, can’t hold me back

Because I love you, I love you, I love you

You’re the yin to my yang, the light to my bulb,

You’re my somebody.

I’ve been used, I’ve been abused, but I’ve never been down and out,

I’ve been to the ends of the earth and back and didn’t get lost,

The paths of fortune have blessed me with a woman who holds the key,

The key to my joy, my peace, and to my families wellbeing.

Life can’t burn me, can’t stop me, can’t hold me back

Because I love you, I love you, I love you

You’re the yin to my yang, the light to my bulb,

You’re my somebody

Max’s voice caught with emotion as he sang to Sophie and he was overwhelmed by the tears that
rolled down her face. He put the guitar down and Sophie placed Jacob on Ella’s lap and ran into his
arms. He bent down and kissed her tears away. “I love you, Sophie. I don’t know if those words can
convey how much you mean to me, how important you are to me, but I want you to never forget how
much I love you.”

“Max, you are my heart. Our family is my life.” She fell into his arms and they held each other tight.

“You make me complete, Sophie.” He stared at her in wonder. “I never knew I could be so happy.”

“Max, I want to read you something.” Sophie looked embarrassed and ran from the room. She came
back a few moments later with an old diary. “This is my diary from childhood. I want you to hear
something.” Max stared at her in shock, his heart beating.

Sophie cleared her throat and started reading:

“We went to the park today. Maxwell chased us around and I think I saw him staring at me. I want
to tell him my feelings very badly but I don’t think he would be interested in a teen like me. Ella
says that I’m too serious and that boys don’t like that in a girl. I suppose she is right. Maxwell is
handsome and kind and I don’t know if I could ever capture the heart of someone so wonderful.
Dear Diary, please don’t tell anyone but I love him. I love him with my whole heart. I know it’s
wrong because he is Ella’s brother and he’s older but I want so very badly to be with him. It’s my
heart’s desire to marry him one day. My heart is full of love for him. I hope that one day he comes
riding in on a black stallion and carries me away to a new land where we can be together forever.
Today I vow that my heart belongs to Maxwell Van Harkel, forever and always.” She stopped
reading and she and Max stared into each other’s eyes in silence.

“Momma loves Daddy,” Jacob whispered up to Ella and she nodded. Her brother and Sophie had
found something special and awe-inspiring. She tried not to sigh but her heart was heavy and sad as
she stared at Jacob. She saw her lover’s face shining out through Jake’s eyes. She closed her eyes and
tried to ignore the pain in her heart. Looking at Jake and playing with him reminded her of Frank, the
love of her life. What would her life had been like if she had met Frank when he was younger? She
sighed as she opened up eyes again to see Jake staring at her face.

“Don’t be sad, Auntie. I love you.” He pressed his face to hers and she kissed his forehead. What if
she had been Jacob’s mother? How different would her life have been? She thought about the text
message that Frank had sent her that morning. He had filed for a separation from his wife. He said he

was willing to give up his position for a chance to be with her but she knew she could never tell her
family about their relationship. She wasn’t even sure how it had happened. She had been in such a
dark place back then, but when she had met him at The X Club she had felt an instant connection with
him. He had been an asshole but when she had met him again at an AA meeting, they had somehow
connected and eventually they had fallen in love. She knew that no one would understand and she
knew why it was impossible for them to be together. Frank had tried to ruin too many people’s lives;
she didn’t know how anyone could ever forgive him. And they would think that he was just another
married man that she had taken up with. They’d think that she hadn’t changed. That she was still the
love-starved and sex-driven young girl that she had been. And there was nothing she could do to stop
them from thinking that if she tried to have a future with Frank.

“I love you too, Jacob.” She kissed his cheeks and held him tight. “And I love your daddy even
more,” she whispered into his ears and let a single teardrop onto the top of his head. She breathed in
his baby scent and hugged him close to her. “I love you Jacob, more than you will ever know. But you
have wonderful parents and they will shower you with more love then you will ever need.” She
kissed him one more time before she jumped up. “Okay guys,” she called out to Sophie and Max, who
were still embracing. “Enough with the love fest, let’s go celebrate.”

Sophie and Max sprung apart and looked at Ella guiltily. “Sorry.” Sophie smiled. “Sometimes we just
get caught up.”

“I know, I know.” Ella grinned at them. “You guys are my inspiration to not give up on love.” She
walked out of the room, “But let’s go and toast to my new move and hope that I have a wonderful new
beginning in my life as well.”

“Amen to that.” Max went over and rubbed his sister’s back. “I know about Frank, Ella, and I forgive
you and love you,” he whispered in her ear and she looked at him in shock.

“I…what…how?” she mumbled back at him.

He shook his head. “It’s not important, sis. I love you.”

“I loved him, Max,” she whispered, trying to explain how she could have dated such a man.

“You can’t choose who you love.” He smiled at her with such love that she hugged him tight. “It’s not
for me to judge you, darling.”

“Thank you, Max.” She felt herself finally relaxing and releasing the guilt that had built up in her. She
couldn’t believe that he’d known all along and he hadn’t judged her or tried to tell her what to do. He
still loved her. He was finally the brother she had always wanted him to be.

“Momma, Auntie is hugging Daddy,” Jacob sung. “We one big happy family.”

“Yes we are, Jake.” Sophie picked up her son and kissed his cheeks. “We are one big happy family,
forever and always.”

“You, me, Auntie, Winter, Daddy, Grandpops, Grandma and Boom Boom,” he shouted and they all
laughed.

Thank you for reading ‘New Beginnings,’ the follow-up book to ‘The Billionaire’s Baby series.

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